Ditto
by Aradia Firehawk
Summary: Rachel Berry is the perfect person for Santana Lopez. Now Santana just has to realize that. Set after Santana slaps Finn in Season 3. This is a slightly AU story. See disclaimer for more details. Rated M for later chapters.
1. She Couldn't Wait

Ditto, by Aradia Firehawk

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of its characters; those belong to Ryan Murphy et al. I do, however, borrow those characters for this story. If you are not a fan of Pezberry, please go somewhere else. If you don't like girl-on-girl, look away. However, if you are a fan of both of those things (and almost definitely some Finn-bashing) then please proceed.

This story is slightly AU in that I changed a couple of events to fit the direction my version of the characters took me. I love Brittana, but obviously they do not really fit in line with a Pezberry fic, so in this world Brittany never broke up with Artie at the end of Season 2. Santana still slept with Finn and he still lied to Rachel, but she never cheated on him with Puck. They did lose at Nationals, but only because Finn kissed Rachel and she proceeded to slap him once they got off-stage, and just because I think it was a stupid turn of events, Quinn did not go crazy punk. Finally, this takes place pretty much where it did in Glee, but the only difference is that Brittana is not together when Finn outs Santana for being in love with her.

Sorry, that was a long intro. Assume anything I did not mention is something I changed for the story or created because it fits, or that it just is not relevant to my tale. Thanks and read on! Please review (constructively).

Chapter 1: "She Couldn't Wait"

Santana stood there, staring at the one place in the world she _really _wished she did not have to be right now. However, she knew one thing for sure: if she did not walk through those doors today, the day after her world crumpled around her, she would never be able to recover. Not emotionally, fuck that, she was Santana Lopez and this was just a blip on her radar, but if she failed now, her reputation at McKinley would never recover.

"All right, bitch, pull your shit together and move your feet. You're from Lima Heights Adjacent and all these people are just sheep. You don't care jack-shit about what they think."

With that said, Santana Lopez put on her best HBIC glare, lifted her head high and walked through the front doors of McKinley High School.

As she walked down the hallway, people parted like they normally did, knowing that if they failed to move fast enough Santana would squash them like a bug. However, there were definitely more stares than normal, and a whole hell of a lot more whispering as she passed. Steeling herself against the nausea that she was too bad-ass to admit she was truly feeling, Santana opened her locker and began to pull out the books she needed. God, she really wished Brittany was there to help her through this. Her best friend was still deliriously happy with Wheels, and while Santana had hated her for a long time for rejecting her, she knew that there was nothing more she could do to win her back. Brittany had the biggest heart in the world, and Santana had been banking on that: meaning she would wait for her forever. She hadn't counted on Brittany's heart being so big that she would fall in love with someone else.

Shaking her head to snap out of her memories, of the look in Brittany's eyes as she told her she was in love with Artie, Santana gathered her books, slammed her locker closed, and turned around. That's when it hit. The event itself was not out of the ordinary. No, just something that happens every day at McKinley: someone got slushied. However, this time, the event silenced everyone in the vicinity, because this time, the slushy hit _Santana_ full in the face.

Time seemed to stop and everyone held their breath as the hockey jocks burst out laughing. "Maybe you can get your girlfriend to lick it off, dyke!" They high-fived each other and kept walking down the hall – mostly out of self-preservation. They had seen Santana after someone had made fun of Brittany: there was not much left of the idiot afterword. Santana just stood there and her eyes started to burn. At first, she thought, _Fuck, that stuff really does sting when it gets in your eyes!_ With dawning horror, she realized that she was starting to tear up, not from pain, but from the desire to cry. Sure, she cried when she was drunk, but that could be laughed off as an effect of the alcohol. This-this could not be explained away. This would only be seen as one thing: weakness.

As she was gathering herself to pick her books up off the floor and trying not to look anyone in the eye, someone swept by her and grabbed her arm, quickly pulling her into the bathroom. Her books were set down by the sink and a wet paper towel started to dab at her face and neck. After a few minutes, she was shocked to realize that the person was trying to lift off her shirt.

"Hey, Hobbit, hands off the goodies!"

"I'm sorry, Santana, but I thought you might want to change your outfit before your shirt starts to dry. Slushie is very sticky, and I speak from experience when I say it is not a good idea to wait until later to change."

Santana blinked as Rachel handed her what suspiciously looked like her extra Cheerios uniform, the one she kept in her gym locker. "Where'd you get this, midget?"

"I asked Coach Sylvester yesterday afternoon if I could borrow it, in the event that this might happen. She actually acquiesced quite willingly, which at first was surprising, but then I suppose she feels partly responsible for the situation that you are in."

Santana glared at Rachel and grabbed the paper towel she was holding. "Situation?"

"Santana, you are currently speaking to the girl who was slushied every day for most of her high school career. Now, I maintain that much of that was due to misplaced jealousy, as I will be leaving much of this small town behind, but I also know that the fact that my fathers are gay played a part in it."

As Rachel started wetting more paper towels, Santana stared at her. She actually had something in common with _Rachel Berry_. When she shivered, she thought at first it was due to her shock at this revelation, but then she shivered again and realized that it was because the slushy was starting to make her really cold.

"Yeah, whatever, Berry. Hand over the uniform." Santana removed her Cheerios top. At least, she attempted to. However, the slushy had already started to dry, and it really was getting almost impossible to remove the material from her body as it had begun to mold the material to her body. As she struggled, Rachel stepped forward and gripped the base of her shirt. "What did I say about the goodies, Berry?"

"I believe your exact words were 'Hey, Hobbit, hands off the goodies!' which is actually rather inaccurate and unfair, since you really are only 3 inches or so taller than me. I am also rather average in height for most women, so I have always found your nicknames for me with regard to my height or lack thereof pretty nonsensical and misplaced. However, in response to your original question about your 'goodies', I am actually attempting to hold your shirt down in the front, so that it is easier for you to grip the sides and pull it up over your head. Would you prefer I just sit back and watch you struggle with it alone? Speaking from experience, it is really very difficult to attempt on your own."

Processing that _incredibly_ long paragraph Berry just recited, Santana blinked and then mumbled out a reluctant "Fine." With that said, she allowed Rachel to once again grip the front of her uniform shirt while she gripped the sides. She slowly slid it up and off her body, and as she did so she could swear she saw Berry close her eyes and take in a deep breath, as if being near her was some sort of struggle. Shrugging it off – after all, there was slushy all over her and she wanted to get it cleaned off as soon as possible – she stepped back and slid off her Cheerios skirt. Reaching her hand out, she took more of the wet paper towels from the brunette's hand and finished rinsing her body off as well as she could. She would shower later in the Cheerios locker room, but for now she had to show she could recover from an event like this, and she refused to look weak in front of the entire school by trying to sneak out of the bathroom still covered in slushie.

She grabbed the clean uniform and was fully dressed once more in minutes. As she straightened her newly damp ponytail she thought, _Damn it's a pain to get that shit out of my hair_. She glanced in the mirror at Rachel and said: "You didn't have to help, and God knows I've done some bad shit to you including getting you slushied like this. So…thanks."

Rachel smiled. "I'd like to think that we've gotten closer over the last three years, Santana. We haven't always agreed and I am not completely blameless, since I did call you a stripper once, but I know that if I really needed it, you would be there for me too."

"Yeah, well, we need your voice for Nationals, and I would be lying if I didn't tell you that your annoying ability to push us in Glee is actually mildly helpful in the long run. Just don't tell anyone I said that, or I'mma cut a bitch."

Berry smirked, actually smirked, and said, "Sure, Santana. I won't say a word. I know you've got those razor blades in your hair."

As Santana made ready to leave the bathroom they had been holed up in for almost an entire period now, Rachel reached out and took her wrist in a small but firm grip. Cocking an eyebrow and waiting to see what would come next out of this weird experience, Santana saw Rachel pause and swallow. She then looked up at her very seriously and whispered, "Don't forget, Santana, you have people who care about you."

"Of course, I'm hot shit. Everyone wants up on this."

"Seriously, Santana, just because Brittany is with Artie—that doesn't mean she doesn't care."

Santana ripped her wrist away and snarled, "What do you know, Berry? You don't know shit about my relationship with Brittany."

"I know that it hurts when the person you love rejects you, and it makes you feel like you have no one else. But you do. We're all here for you Santana."

"Sure, Berry, you're here for me, especially since I took Finnocence's V-card and ruined your relationship. You're _totally _there for me."

"You may have been a part of it, Santana, but that does not change the fact that Finn lied to me about it afterward, even when I told him the truth about Jessie and me. Was I mad at you for the occurrence and for how you told me? Yes, but upon further reflection your revelation was just one of many issues that Finn and I had. You simply helped me see them."

Santana just stared at her. "I don't get you. I really don't."

"You don't have to, Santana. You just have to know that I, and the rest of the Glee club-"

"Minus Finn."

"Okay, minus Finn, but I really think he just hasn't thought about the consequences of his actions, of how he uses his words, and I really don't think he meant to out you to the whole school, let alone the whole town-"

"Berry!"  
Taking a deep breath, Rachel squared her shoulders. "I apologize. What I was trying to say is that we are all here for you. Please know that. You are not alone."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Berry. I gotta get to class or Coach will kick my ass if she hears I'm slacking off on my school work. If I don't attend classes then I don't stay on the squad. _No me gusta_."

As Santana turned to leave, she paused before opening the door and said, "Rachel?"

Rachel snapped her head up. Santana never called her by her first name. "Yes?"

After a long moment, Santana looked up into her eyes and said, "Ditto," and with that she spun around and was gone.

Rachel stood there for a few minutes more and then, slowly, she let a smile slip out. Others might not have understood that one word, but Rachel did. With that one word, Santana Lopez had acknowledged, thanked, and returned her offer of support. As her hand still tingled from where she had held Santana's wrist, Rachel could not help thinking that things were only going to get more interesting before graduation.

She couldn't wait.


	2. Baby Steps

Disclaimer: I still do not own _Glee_; it is the property of Ryan Murphy and Twentieth Century Fox Television, among others. I wish I did own it, there would be _way_ more girl-on-girl kissing in the show if I did. Thanks for the reviews and favorites so far everyone!

Chapter 2: Baby Steps

Santana ducked into the library during her lunch period. She wasn't that hungry and all the eyes staring at her just made her appetite worse. It had been a week of this: she put on a brave face when she walked around school, but whenever Santana got the chance she would find someplace to go where no one would think to look for her. On Tuesday it was under the bleachers (and she had to kick those Skanks out from under there, so it was almost more effort than it was worth). Wednesday was the auditorium, but too many Glee kids would be in and out of there all day, and she couldn't stand to see their looks of pity. Finally, it was Friday, and she thought of the one place that hardly any of the student population of McKinley High ever went: the library.

Oddly enough, Santana did not feel the need to hide her identity from anyone who was already close to her. Santana's parents had been so much better about all of this than she had feared. They told her they were truly sorry that her life would be harder, but they understood that being gay was something she couldn't control. The hardest part of the whole conversation was when she finally got up the nerve to ask them if they still loved her. Her mother immediately took her into her arms, and her father wrapped his arms around both of them. "Of _course _we still love you, _mija. _Don't ever doubt that we will _always_ love you." At those words, Santana had broken down, and they had all just stood there holding one another. The tableau was broken when her ass-hat of an older brother, Antonio (who was a college student in Columbus but was home for a break), came in and shouted, "What is this, a love-fest? Where's my bad-ass little sis?"

He'd hugged her when she told him as well, though he admitted he'd known for a long time since he had seen the way that she acted around Brittany. Flinching when he mentioned her name, Santana managed to recover quickly enough, which is when she finally realized that he had let her freak out about telling him and he had known all along! She hit him in the shoulder for that and chased him around thehouse shouting "Tony! Get the hell back here so I can properly kick your ass!", while her parents sighed and shook their heads at the antics of their two children. They'd ended the night all hanging out in the living room watching TV together, and Santana had never felt safer or more loved.

Despite her family's support, outside of school was even worse, because the adults in this small-ass town were even bigger judgmental asses than their kids were. She'd managed to mostly stay indoors, but even the drive home got her way more looks than she liked. Snapping out of her memories of the last couple of days, Santana shook her head and thought, _Fuck them. I don't need any of them. I have my family, and soon I'll tell mi abuela, and I'll be gone from this shit-hole in less than a year. _With that encouraging thought, Santana turned the corner around one of the bookshelves and saw the one person she had _really _been avoiding this week: Rachel Berry. _Just my fucking luck._

She must have made a slight noise while thinking this, because before she could try to make an escape, Rachel looked up.

"Santana, how are you?"

"Fine, midget. What are you doing here?"

"Well, this," she said, pointing to the book she was holding, "is a _book_, which you can sometimes find within the room you are currently in, also known as _the library_. I am reading it, which is usually what one does with books. What are you doing in here? I didn't think you knew where the library was."

Santana was about to go off on Rachel when she noticed the small smile on her face. _Did Berry just tease me? What sort of alternate universe have I landed in this week? _"Yeah, yeah, I'll have you know I currently have an A- average – and before you ask, no, it's not just in Spanish – and I read books too, when I feel like it. I just figured you spend every free moment singing when you're not using that trap to tell us, _again_,how awesome you are."

Rachel smiled, "While I do find that most of my free time can be better spent continuing to perfect my vocals, every once-in-awhile I am tempted to branch out."

Santana snorted, "Right, 'cause you need to 'perfect' your vocals."

"Was that an inadvertent compliment, Santana? Careful, someone might hear you and think you're going soft."

"Eh, I'll just smack 'em down like the little lemmings they are." Santana slumped into a chair across from Rachel, realized that she was tired of standing, and that since they had already started talking she really couldn't run away without losing face (at least in her own mind). After a slight pause that almost became awkward, Santana asked, "So, what're you reading?"

Rachel lifted her book and Santana's jaw dropped: It was an autobiography. That in itself was not odd, but the author and subject was what had Santana's eyebrows rising toward her hairline: Berry was reading _The Way I Am_, by Eminem. "Really?"

Rachel laughed, "What, you thought it would be a Barbra Streisand book? I'll admit, I do read those books as well, but I have a passion for many types of books, and Eminem is a fascinating man and a profound lyricist."

Bursting out laughing for the first time in a long while, Santana said, "Leave it to you to make Eminem sound classy. You can't just say he kicks ass and you like his music?"

"What fun would that be?"

Rachel shrugged, but Santana was beginning to realize that Rachel Berry liked to poke fun at people way more than Santana originally thought. It was only now that she had a chance to see the mocking up close that it was becoming more and more obvious.

"Well, just as long as you don't go around telling people that 'you're gonna pop-a-cap in their ass' or anything, it's all good."

Rachel looked shocked, "Of course not, Santana! It is clearly your job to 'cut a bitch' when necessary. I wouldn't want to get in the way of you being able to make use of those _hojas de afeitar_ in your hair."

"When the hell did you learn to say "razor blades" in Spanish?" _Jesus, Berry just keeps fucking surprising the shit out of me!_

"Well, while Mr. Schue is a moderately decent Glee teacher, he's terrible with Spanish as I'm sure you've noticed. Due to his – and the school's – total inability to realize this, I was forced to take extensive courses outside of McKinley. I have a number of different languages in my repertoire as I have taken language classes – along with dance classes, theater classes, and singing classes – my whole life. You never know when you might need a foreign language for a play, and of course, I know extensive Hebrew and Yiddish. However, I would be lying if I did not mention that I have made sure to perfect my Spanish so that I can realistically be aware of how close you are to truly trying to kill me. Plus, I did dream at one point that I might be able to throw insults back at you in Spanish, but I've never gotten up the courage."

"Well, I haven't tried to kill you in a while, so I suppose you're safe." Santana was more (grudgingly) impressed every minute by how much she really didn't know about Berry.

"Yes, I have not needed my Spanish to defend myself against you in quite some time; though I don't think even knowing Spanish would have protected Finn from the slap you laid on him last week."

Santana froze. This was not okay. They could talk about some things, but not this. Santana was not ready for this. "Back off, Berry."

Rachel sighed, "It's okay, Santana. You don't have to tell me anything unless you want to. I was just making a comment about Finn's inability to dodge small girls with big vendettas against him. It's not too surprising though. He is pretty tall so I'm guessing that probably makes him slower to react."

Santana breathed a sigh of relief as she realized that Berry was going to let them shift the topic elsewhere than her breakdown. "Hey, I'm nowhere near as short as you, Berry! It is pretty funny that he doesn't ever seem to see it coming though. Do you remember the time that his face slammed into the door when he tripped over his own feet? That was…"

Rachel sighed and nodded along with Santana's story, not really focused on the words but rather on the fact that Santana was talking to her like a normal person. She had hoped to be able to get her to open up more about "the incident," but she supposed it would take more than two real conversations for Santana to allow herself to be vulnerable. For now, Rachel was going to enjoy listening to her voice and hopefully get Santana to smile again. When she had burst out laughing earlier, Rachel's breath had caught in her throat. Santana had such an addictive laugh, and Rachel could only hope that she would get to hear it at least once more today. _Baby steps, Rachel, baby steps._

Author's note: The autobiography is by Eminem and it is published by Plume. I do not own any part of it.

Additionally, I know some basic Spanish, Japanese, Ancient Greek, Italian, and a couple of Hebrew and Yiddish words. Therefore the Spanish I use in this will most often be translated by Google Translate so I apologize in advance if I mercilessly butcher the Spanish language. I am trying to pepper the story with Spanish where I think it might make the most sense for Santana and her family who are supposed to be fluently bilingual. Plus, it is fun to throw in a phrase or two for Rachel every once-in-awhile.

Please review!


	3. Too BadAss For That

Disclaimer: _Glee_? Still not mine. Still owned by Ryan Murphy et al, but what can you do? At least I get to play with the characters for a little while.

Author's note: Sorry it took a couple of days to get this out. I have a lot of ideas, so I spent some time creating more of an outline for this story; figured out what connections (if any) I want to have to specific episodes from Season 3. Here is the third chapter though, so enjoy! I will be trying to update every couple of days, but I also work full time, so forgive me if some weeks it is harder than others. Please review, your words are really encouraging and they definitely inspire me to write more (and faster).

Chapter 3: "Too bad-ass for that"

It had happened twice already in one week, so Santana was really not surprised at all when she kept running into Rachel Berry everywhere she went. At first, she was sure that Berry was stalking her, trying to have her open her heart and cry out all her feelings onto her shoulder. That would probably be followed closely by a rendition of an uplifting Barbra Streisand song about "rising above" or some such shit. Then she kicked herself for her own stupidity: they lived in _Lima, Ohio._ You could spit and hit ten people you knew (ironically, Santana had totally done that at a church function one time. It was fucking hilarious).

This "no-shit-Sherlock" realization did not change the fact that Santana and Rachel could not escape running into one another on a day-to-day basis, which is how they ended up where they were right now. Santana was sitting across from Rachel at the Lima Bean coffee shop, and for the second time in the last week, she was the one covered in a drink, not Rachel.

"I really am terribly sorry, Santana. I had no idea you were in line right behind me. If I had known, I would not have turned quite so suddenly, causing you to spill both our drinks all over you."

"Berry, it's fine. You didn't see me. I get it. You're short and probably couldn't see over your coffee cup, so I'll let it slide."

"I'll have you know, Santana, I had them specially order coffee cups that are small enough to see over. Maybe you failed to see me turn over your generous…"

Santana laughed out loud, which was something she had been doing a lot of lately around Rachel. "Were you just going to say that I couldn't see you over my tits?"

"Well, I probably would not have used the word 'tits,' but they are quite decently sized, even if they are…"

"Wow, I managed to leave Rachel Berry grasping for words. "'Fake,' Berry. The word is fake, or I guess you'd probably say 'augumented.' It's okay though. You can talk about them. I'm not ashamed."

"Then why did you get done...if I may ask?"

Santana started to speak and then paused. Rachel reassured her, "I won't tell anyone, I promise. Whatever we talk about stays in confidence, Santana."

"The summer before junior year I went to the doctor and they found a lump." At Rachel's stricken expression, Santana held her hand up and said, "Before you freak out on me, it wasn't cancer, but they did have to remove it. It was large enough that if they didn't do some kind of reconstructive surgery I would look really odd, so when given the option, I asked to get both of them increased in size. Not Pamela Anderson-big, but enough to make me feel more confident."

"You always seemed _incredibly_ sure of yourself, Santana, especially with regard to your body."

"That's just it. My body was my way of getting people to like me. I'm a bitch; we all know it, and my hotness factor opens doors for me. A lopsided boob or a scar on top of my breasts the size they used to be would have knocked me down the social ladder too much. Of course, Quinn took care of that anyway by letting Sue know I got the boob job, but I did what I thought I had to do to stay on top."

After a long pause, Rachel softly asked, "Do you regret it?"

Santana thought about it for longer than she had in a while and then firmly said, "No, I like my body. I always have, but _I _decide what makes me beautiful. I made the choice to get my boobs done past the necessary surgery. I don't have boobs large enough to hurt my back or make people feel like they're going blind when they look at me, so who cares if a few people think I'm a little self-involved?"

There was a bit of an awkward pause after that, but then Rachel whispered, "I think you're beautiful."

When she saw that Santana was getting even more uncomfortable, Rachel lifted her head up higher and said through a smirk, "Though that could be because there is coffee all over your chest so your 'assets' are quite distinctive right now."

Santana gaped at her, "Rachel! You did not just check out my chest!"

"No, not just now, but I was just pointing out that you might want to change your shirt soon, so that the boys coming in and out of the coffee shop stop tripping over their own feet."

Santana looked around and, sure enough, at least two teen boys were checking her out and another one was definitely drooling into his coffee. She smirked and stretched her arms above her head, arching her back and moaning a little. Five seconds later, the boy who had been drooling slipped off his chair and had to run to the bathroom to clean himself up after he spilled his coffee in his lap.

"Ha! Did you see the way he was holding his jacket in front of himself? He's definitely not going to the bathroom to just wash his pants off."

"You are incorrigible, Santana Lopez. You did that on purpose."

"Of course. If little creeps can't handle what they're staring at, then they shouldn't be staring in the first place."

Glancing up under her eyelashes and then quickly glancing away, Santana could have sworn she heard Rachel mumble, "Damn straight."

This conversation began the first of many meetings at the Lima Bean between Santana and Rachel. At first, Santana tried to play if off and act like she was totally not trying to run into Rachel. By the third week of multiple coffee shop trips that just happenedto be when they were both there, Santana could no longer deny the truth: she and Rachel were teens who hung out together for fun. They were friends.

This revelation was fine, in moderation. However, one afternoon near the end of the third week of their friendship, they had a few visitors, and Santana wasn't sure she was comfortable with that. They were sitting next to each other in their usual comfy chairs when Kurt and Blaine walked in. Looking around for somewhere to sit, the boys finally noticed Santana and Rachel. Once Kurt's eyeballs went back into their sockets and Blaine's eyebrows came down from his hairline (with a little more gel in them after making the trip), they walked over to the two girls with their coffees in hand.

Kurt cleared his throat and said, "Rachel, Santana, I didn't know you two frequented the Lima Bean."

"Yes, well, Santana and I ran into one another (Santana snorted) here a few weeks ago and the rest—"

"Is none of your business. Now move along."

"Santana, don't be rude to our fellow teammates and friends."

"Riiiight. Well, if you are all going to skip along together down the yellow-brick-road of musical delight, I'm out. My coffee's cold anyway."

Santana got up to leave, but as she brushed past Rachel's seat, she reached out and tugged on Santana's fingers. Looking down, Santana couldn't look away from Rachel's eyes. Rachel didn't say anything; she just smiled a little bit and gave a tug on Santana's fingers. Santana rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll stay. The second we start talking about Mr. Schue, I'm out of here. It's the weekend. I don't need that shit right now."

Rachel laughed and handed her coffee to Santana to try. The Latina slumped back into the chair next to Rachel and took a big swig. "You know what's really crazy?"

"What?" Rachel asked.

"I'm starting to enjoy this vegan coffee you drink."

"It's just soy milk instead of regular milk, Santana."

"Yeah, but you can totally tell it's not from a cow, so it definitely doesn't taste as awesome."

Rachel just rolled her eyes at Santana and snatched her coffee back. "Fine, if you don't want any more of my beverage whose ingredients were not stolen from an innocent bovine…"

Santana stole the coffee once more and smirked over the edge. "I didn't say that."

Kurt and Blaine could only watch the back and forth between the two girls play out in front of them. When they saw Santana smile at Rachel in just the right way, and Rachel smile back like she never did with Finn, Puck, or Jesse, they knew one thing for sure: this was more than a friendship. They weren't sure how much more, but it was definitely entertaining to watch.

In fact, Kurt and Blaine soon became regular additions to the Lima Bean hangouts, which went from twice a week to almost every day. The four of them would all stroll in around the same time. Rachel and Santana would initially dance this entrance _pas de deux_ separately. Over time, the girls gradually entered the Bean together, though usually with Kurt and Blaine in tow to cut the slowly mounting tension. They would all plop down into the four comfy chairs in the corner and spend the afternoon studying, chatting, and even talking about Glee. Santana finally allowed the Glee talk after a heated debate over who got the last scone. Santana was starving, so she got the scone, but only because Rachel was allowed to talk about Glee at least once each time the group hung out.

One afternoon, Santana was sitting in one of the plushy chairs next to Rachel and across from Kurt when she noticed the Other Warbler bugging Blaine. As Sebastian moved closer and closer encroaching on Blaine's personal space, Santana could see Blaine was getting more and more uncomfortable. Thankfully, Kurt hadn't noticed yet, but Rachel—who was in the same line of sight as Santana—was definitely starting to get upset. Jumping up, Santana snuck up behind the navy-blazered and seemingly silver-tongued boy and hooked her arm around Sebastian's shoulder. "We got a problem here, Blaine?"

Blaine visibly relaxed when he noticed the way Sebastian was cringing under the pressure Santana was apparently applying to his arm. "Sebastian was just having trouble remembering that I have a boyfriend."

"It also looked like you were having a little trouble with the idea of personal space, Sebastian. Didn't your mom ever teach you that no means no, OW?"

"OW? Who or what is OW?" Sebastian looked really confused.

"OW, that's what I call you. It stands for Other Warbler. It's also the noise you're gonna make when I kick you between the legs, which is what I'm gonna do the next time you bother my boy Blaine here. He's the only Warbler I want to see in here for a while. Get me?" Santana followed her final statement up with another hard squeeze to Sebastian's shoulder.

Sebastian cringed and left quickly as he tried rather desperately to make it seem that he was not running away to protect his ability to procreate. Santana chuckled and looped her arm companionably through Blaine's. "Tell anyone I did that and you will be singing like Kurt for a while."

Blaine nodded, very surprised but pleased that Santana Lopez had come to his defense. Once they sat back down, it was apparent that Kurt had not seen any of the argument, thankfully. However, as Blaine grasped Kurt's hand and took another sip of his coffee, he couldn't help noticing that Rachel smiled in that special way once more and affectionately nudged Santana's boot with her own.

Santana just smiled and nodded her head, acknowledging that Rachel had seen it all. Santana was definitely going soft. As she looked around at her "friends" once more, she finally admitted that she really didn't care. A soft spot or two in her hardened exterior wouldn't break the Latina. She was too bad-ass for that.

Author's additional note: Santana's boob job always bothered me because even though she is a teenager with insecurities like everyone else, she never really seemed the type to get a boob job. Also, what parent would let their teenager get cosmetic surgery? (Yes, I know Quinn got a nose job. I'm not terribly thrilled with that either.) I hope this chapter explained my thoughts on the subject and did not offend anyone. Again, reviews are always appreciated.


	4. Verguenza

Disclaimer: I am not the creator or owner of _Glee. _If I was, Finn would be pretty much non-existent and numbers like _I Kissed A Girl_ would be much more prevalent. I am not making any money off of this.

Author's notes: Please oh please oh please review! Does that sound desperate enough? Seriously though, I love that there are so many of you on my story alert list and that you all seem to be enjoying my story. For those of you who have reviewed: words cannot express how awesome it makes me feel to read those. I am sad to admit that I read a lot of fanfiction but I often forget to review as well, so thank you for taking the time. As a special thank you, this chapter is slightly longer than the others!

On another note: I think I will be adding more plot points from actual episodes in this chapter, so we'll see how it goes. I feel some Pezberry action coming up soon!

Chapter 4: "_Verguenza"_

Santana felt like her heart was crushing in on her. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. All she knew was that her world had shifted, and she didn't know which way she should – or could – turn. Why couldn't she breathe? Why was it hard to see? Why did her hands hurt? All she could hear in her head over and over was one word, said in the voice that had sung her lullabies and kissed her skinned knees: V_erguenza_. Shame.

In the six weeks since she had slapped Finn, been slushied, and been befriended by Rachel, a lot had changed. She now got along a lot better with most of the Glee club. Well, she tolerated most of them, and she could admit that she was actually friends with Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine. She still hated Wheels, but she was working to get over her shit and be around him, at least so she and Britt could try to be friends again. It would never be the same. It never could be since Santana had realized that Brittany would never be hers the way she wanted her to be. However, they were getting back to some sort of friendship through Glee, so hopefully they could start hanging out again soon.

Rachel was…Rachel was complicated. She was really not nearly as annoying if you hung out with her one-on-one, and she was funny and kinda beautiful—_Oh, fuck it. You know you have a thing for her. Just admit it already. Jesus._ What was she supposed to do about that though? From her past dating history it was clear that Rachel liked boys. Sure, Rachel's dating history hadn't been very successful: one boy had his team throw raw eggs at her and then cracked one over her head himself (fucking jackass); the other dumped her for kissing someone else then tried to ruin all her hopes and dreams by kissing her on stage during Nationals (he _said_ not on purpose, but come on!). Still, that didn't mean that Rachel would want to stop driving stick altogether (metaphorically, since she was vocal enough that the entire team knew she was still a virgin).

Rachel _had_ flirted with Santana shamelessly though, especially in the past week or so. When Santana would ask if Rachel wanted more coffee, Rachel would nod and brush her fingers along Santana's for much longer than was necessary to pass the Latina her coffee card. When they hung out in the choir room and practiced the _I Kissed A Girl_ number she wanted to perform with the Glee girls for their upcoming assignment, Rachel eyes definitelylingered on Santana's lips. That could have been written off as existing only in Santana's head, but then yesterday she'd said in passing that she always thought that the Cheerios' skirts were the best invention in the world. Santana had looked at her like she was crazy and Rachel's only response was: "There's just something about the way that they hug the female form – particularly in the chest and buttocks area." Santana had spit her coffee all over the table, and as Rachel handed her some napkins to clean up the mess, she whispered, "Plus, nothing shows off legs quite as well as that Cheerios skirt." She uttered that just before bouncing off to get a fresh cup of coffee when, from out of the blue, shewinked at Santana. Winked! If that wasn't flirting, then Santana wasn't an Ellen-loving, girl-obsessed, can't-stop-thinking-about-kissing-Rachel-Berry lesbian.

The question was what should she do about it? Shaking her head, Santana decided not to worry about it for the moment. She had to concentrate on the fact that she was standing in front of her _abuela's _house and that tonight, finally, Santana was going to tell her that she was gay.

She had thought about it for a long time, but had waited because she wasn't sure she could handle it if her _abuela_ didn't take it well. She also wasn't sure she needed to mention it until she was actually dating someone. However, after "the incident" six weeks ago, she realized that she couldn't wait much longer. This was a small town and her _abuela_ would hear it from someone soon. Santana didn't want that; she wanted to tell her herself. She'd even spoken to her mother about telling her _abuela_ to see what her mom thought she should do. Her mother said, "Santana, she's my mother. I would like to think that her love and support carries through in all things. I believe they do, but if you are really worried about it, _mija_, I can speak to her about it myself or go with you?"

"No, I want to handle this myself. We have always been really close. I really want to be honest and open with her on my own terms."

"I understand, _mija_. Remember though, whatever happens, your father, brother and I love you very much. _Estás__nuestro corazón_."

With the memory of her mother's love and support firmly in her mind, Santana walked into her _abuela's_ house.

She called out, "_Abuelita_?"

Her _abuela_ responded by shouting, "In the kitchen, Santana! Come in here and get fed!"

Santana walked into the kitchen and just stood there watching her _abuela_ putting together food for her. It was a running joke in their family that you had to be hungry to be anywhere within 3 feet of her _abuela,_ because she always insisted that she make food for you whenever you pulled her away from the sink gently and asked her to sit down because she had to tell her something. Then Santana said slowly and with a little bit of a quiver in her voice, "I have to tell you a secret. It's a secret that I've kept hidden for a long time." When her _abuela_ interrupted to offer more food, Santana could only ask her to listen, because if she paused for too long she wasn't sure she'd be able to get out what she wanted to say. When Santana was interrupted again by her _abuela_ asking if she was pregnant,she laughed at that possibility and kept pressing on.

Santana told her _abuela_ that she was the strongest and bravest person she knew, and then she said it. "_Abuelita_, I love girls in the way that I'm supposed to feel about boys. It's just something that's always been inside of me, and I really wanted to share that with you because I love you so much. I want you to know me – who I really am."

She paused while trying to figure out how to say the next part. She didn't want to mention Brittany by name, since the girl wasn't really in her life in that way anymore, but she wanted to say _something _about the way she felt when she was in love with her, because her love for Brittany was the reason that she was finally brave enough to face herself. "I finally understand what people are talking about when they talk about love. I've tried so hard to push this feeling away and keep it locked inside, but everyday just feels like a war. I walk around so mad at the world, but I'm really just fighting with myself. I don't wanna fight anymore. I'm just too tired. I _have_ to just be me."

Then her world shattered. She couldn't even remember all that her _Abuelita_ had said. All she could here was that one word over and over: V_erguenza_. Shame. Her _abuela _hated her. She was ashamed of her own _nieta_. Santana couldn't think past that one thought. It was just too all-consuming. She was in pieces, and she didn't know how to put herself back together. Maybe that's why her hands hurt? Then someone was touching her and Santana lashed out.

Rachel ducked just in time to miss her swing, and she caught Santana around her back and arms. "Santana! Tana. You have to stop. Please, just stop."

Santana couldn't understand what Rachel meant at first. Then she realized that she was hitting the ground with her fists over and over, and that the reason she had almost hit Rachel was that she had just continued punching. Luckily she was on the grass, but there were a couple of rocks on the ground. As she lifted her hands, she could see a few cuts across her knuckles. Oh, that's why her hands hurt.

"Tana, let's go, okay? We'll go to your house—"

"NO! I don't want my family to see me like this."

"Okay, then we'll go to my house and get you cleaned up. Come on, you shouldn't stay out here. The grass is damp and it's starting to rain."

As Rachel helped Santana up, the Latina had a thought: "How did you get here, Rach?" (If you'd asked her when they had started shortening each other's names, she'd have told you that she had no idea, but it was actually probably right at that moment.)

"You called me, Tana. All you said was 'I need you.' I asked where you were, but you just kept saying it over and over. I needed to find you, so I called your mother and told her that you had called me but your phone had died, so if she could please let me know where you were and perhaps provide me with a landline number I would greatly appreciate it. It's a good thing we live in a small town, because the second she said you were at your _abuela's_ I knew exactly where to go. I found you hitting the ground when I got here." Rachel helped Santana into her car and they slowly drove to the Berry residence.

Santana didn't speak the entire drive. When they got to her house, Rachel got out and walked around to open the door for Santana and helped her out of the car. Rachel noticed Santana cringe when she balled her hands into fists, so she reached out and slid her fingers into the Latina's, interlacing them, and led her to the front door. As Rachel reached for her keys, her dad Leroy opened the door to let them in. "Rachel, honey, are you all right? You rushed out of the house so fast that we didn't have time to ask you where you were going." Leroy paused when he noticed that Santana was with his daughter.

Having gotten used to the two girls hanging out together these past number of weeks, it was not a strange thing to see Santana in their home. However, she looked incredibly shell-shocked, and Leroy noticed that her hand (the one not holding onto Rachel for dear life) had some cuts and bruises on it. "Santana! Are you all right, dear?" At Rachel's look which begged him not to ask any more questions right now, Leroy nodded subtly and shouted, "Hiram! We're having a guest for the night. Make sure we have enough for breakfast in the morning." Santana looked up at this statement, startled at their apparent willingness to let her stay over, no questions asked.

Leroy just smiled as Hiram walked into the room. "Who's staying over? Santana! Well, that's just wonderful. Oh, and now you can have you bacon tomorrow, Leroy, since as we know Santana is a carnivore of the highest order."

"Ooh, you're right! Hooray! Santana, I do so love when you come over as my food options greatly improve. You see, Hiram may respect his daughter's food choices and follow them himself, but he is also unwilling to let a guest go hungry."

"Dad, daddy, we all know how much you love having guests over—"

"Not guests, honey! Santana!"

"Fine, having _Santana_ over, but right now we are both really tired, so we're going to go upstairs and we'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"All right, honey, we love you."

As Santana and Rachel turned to leave, Hiram called out "Santana?" She turned around and he smiled at her. "You're always welcome. Feel better, okay?" She nodded her head and let Rachel pull her up the stairs.

When they got upstairs, Rachel sat her down in the bathroom and cleaned up her hands, washing away the blood and dirt. Santana didn't feel clean, though. She felt dirty. _Verguenza_. Shame. She felt like she wanted to throw up.

"Hey." Rachel lifted her chin up.

"I'm going to tuck you into my bed and then call your parents to let them know you're okay, all right?" When Santana's eyes widened a little, Rachel said, "It's okay. You can talk to them more about it when you're ready. I just don't want them calling the police when you don't come home." Santana nodded and again let Rachel lead her by the hand into her bedroom. She kicked off her pants and slid into Rachel's bed without another thought while Rachel picked up her cell phone and stepped out into the hallway. Santana listened as her eyes drooped from exhaustion.

"Mrs. Lopez? Yes, this is Rachel Berry again. Santana wasn't feeling well after she went to her _abuela's_ so she's going to be staying the night here if that is acceptable. She hasn't spoken much since I picked her up, but I believe whatever was said was not pleasant. She knows you love her. I think she just wants a night to process it all in a non-family environment. Thank you for being so understanding. I promise I'll take good care of her. Thank you again. Good night."

Rachel crept back into the room and climbed into bed with Santana after brushing her teeth and getting into her pajamas. She kept herself away from Santana in case she did not want to be touched, but then Santana broke the silence. "She said I had shamed her. That secrets were secrets for a reason. That I should leave and never come back to her house again. I told _mi_ _abuela_ that I'm gay and she threw me out." Then the Latina broke down. Rachel quickly wrapped her up in her arms and held her, rocking her back and forth as Santana sobbed her broken heart out in the darkness.

"Santana Marie Lopez, you are not worthless or shameful in any way. You are a beautiful person whose heart is bigger than most people know, and you are perfect just the way you are. If she can't see past her own bigotry and self-hate, then that is her loss. You're special, Tana. You're special and you are loved. You are precious to your family and friends, and…" Rachel paused and lifted Santana's head up, "you are precious to me."

With those whispered words and Rachel's fingers brushing tears off of Santana's cheeks, Rachel leaned in and kissed Santana.

Author's note: I know! I'm evil to end on that note, but I just thought it was a perfect moment. Yay Pezberry! I did indeed copy Santana's speech to her grandmother from the show, but Naya Rivera played that scene to absolute perfection, and it was brilliantly written for her character, so I decided not to change it (minus removing Brittany from it, obviously). I know this is a little angsty, but it is obviously very important to Santana's story. More actual Pezberry in the next chapter, and don't forget to please review!


	5. Did You Like It?

Disclaimer: _Glee_ is the creation of Ryan Murphy. Who else but the creator of _Nip/Tuck_ could create such a weird (and yet awesome) show? Yeesh, that show still gives me nightmares. Oh, well, on with the show (or story as ever the case may be)!

Author's note: Sorry this took a little time to get to you all. I had a pretty crazy busy week, and so did my fiancée, who is my beta (because who else would I trust to proof my writing?). I am working on writing longer chapters overall (because they make me happier) so that you are all kept happy between chapters. Reviews are my pride and joy! Thank you for all of your support and please keep the reviews coming (I also like to hear from new readers, so have at it). This chapter is mostly Pezberry, but totally awesome and totally worth the not-quite-plot.

A final note about formatting: There's a song near the end of this chapter. For readability, here's all you need to know. All the lyrics are in quotes. The regular non-formatted lyrics are Santana. The italicized lyrics are Rachel. The bold lyrics are any time the two of them sing together or with the group.

Chapter 5: "Did You Like It?"

When Santana woke up, she was really warm. At first she thought that she must have fallen asleep without turning on her fan like she usually did. Then she realized that there was a weight around her that was definitely heavier than her blankets. As she started to move, she felt the warm breath on the back of her neck. Suddenly, all of yesterday came back to her. She couldn't stand to think much about her _abuela_, but the thought that kept running over and over through her head was _Rachel kissed me. Rachel Berry kissed me! I kissed her back!_

Santana was slowly starting to freak out when Rachel mumbled out: "Dear God, Santana, your brain is _really_ loud. It's too early for you to be thinking this much and that's coming from me! I get up at 6:00 a.m. every morning to work out and you are exhausting me already."

Santana tried to inch away from Rachel and quickly said, "I don't know what you're talking about, Berry, but I gots to get my things and head out of here, so stop cuddling up to me."

Rachel wrapped her arms tighter around Santana: "Don't even think about it. Just lie back down and we can talk about this, okay? This doesn't have to be something you freak out about."

At those words, Santana lunged forward, trying to escape from Rachel's bed before her heart got any more damaged than it already was. She couldn't handle this. Rachel was going to reject her, tell her the kiss was just out of pity and that she was straight and there was no way she would ever _really_ flirt with Santana—

With a surprised yelp, Santana was thrown backward onto the bed and Rachel-freaking-Berry was straddling her! "What the fuck! _Mierda_! Berry, wha—"

"Rachel. My name is Rachel. You seemed perfectly able to say it last night. In fact, you shortened it to Rach, which I actually quite liked."

"Rachel. Get the fuck—"

"_Cállate_!"

Santana had never been more shocked in her life. Not only had Rachel flipped her without much effort – her, a Cheerio – but now she was telling her to shut up in Spanish.

"You will lie here and be quiet for five minutes, Santana. You will give me time to explain what I mean, and you will not run out on me like you have run out on every other person you thought could even remotely hurt you." When it looked like Santana was not going to move, Rachel sat back a little and released Santana's hands, which she had been holding down above her head. She tried not to think about how much this position turned her on since she had never seen Santana in a position of submission.

"What I meant by this not being a big deal is that I understand you might not be ready for a relationship or anything past friendship with me. I was giving you an out in case you truly did regret our kiss last night. I could see instantly when I said that that you thought I was rejecting you. Nothing could be further from the truth, Santana. I love that we've become so close these past weeks, and I love that you are beginning to trust me. The fact is you called me last night because you knew I would be there for you no matter what and I love that. However, I would be lying if I told you that I didn't want more from you."

At Santana's quirked eyebrow, Rachel continued: "I kissed you last night to show you how much I care for you, and to let you know that you are not alone. I also wanted to show you that I am attracted to you. I know you've noticed my flirting the last couple of weeks – some of it was so blatant I think even Finn would have realized I was coming onto him – but the kiss was definitely my way of solidifying that my feelings are more than friendly in nature." When Santana scoffed, Rachel rolled her eyes and said, "Fine. I like you, Tana. I like you as more than friends. I want to take my hands and run them all over your body, then I want to—"

Blushing, Santana interrupted: "Ooookay! I get it, Rach. You like me."

"Did I make Santana Lima-Heights-Adjacent Lopez, HBIC of McKinley, blush?" Rachel laughed. While she was caught off guard with the giggles, Santana turned the tables on Rachel, literally, as she flipped Rachel over and topped her. Santana started tickling her, and it was all the shorter brunette could do to not fall off the bed with how much she was laughing.

The tickling turned into a wrestling match of sorts and it quickly became apparent that the girls were pretty evenly matched. Santana was a Cheerio and had a daily workout regimen, but then so did Rachel, who felt that it was her duty to stay in shape for her future Broadway prospects. Finally, Santana ended up back on top (she did have Sue as her coach) and both girls were breathing heavily. Santana looked down at Rachel and realized that this crazy yet beautiful girl had almost effortlessly distracted her from her troubles so totally and completely, and all she wanted to do was kiss her: so she did.

Rachel arched into Santana's mouth as the Latina pulled the singer up slightly from the bed, molding their bodies together. She wrapped her arms around Santana's neck and moaned into her mouth as Santana ran her tongue along the shorter girl's lips and coaxed her mouth open. This time it was definitely Santana who moaned as Rachel's tongue battled with hers and neither one of them cared who won. They were both victors in this game.

Santana's hands found their way onto Rachel's ass, and the diva gasped as the Latina gripped tightly and pulled her even closer. Then it was Santana's turn to lose her breath as Rachel latched onto her neck and started to suck on her pulse point. Santana couldn't handle it anymore. There were too many sensations. She pulled back and shifted her hands up, moving Rachel away from her neck. _Fuck, she's really good at that_.

Sitting back a little, Rachel looked at Santana through eyes bloodshot with arousal. "Tana? You okay?"

"Yeah, I can't believe I'm the one saying this, but I think we gotta sit back and take a breath for a moment." Rachel seemed to be listening. However, after a minute of no response from the girl who normally wouldn't shut up, Santana realized that the only thing the other girl was focused on was the movement of her lips. Santana laughed and nudged her a little. "Rach, I know I'm hot shit, but you gotta focus on my actual words right now, beautiful."

Rachel shook her head and finally looked up into the taller girl's eyes. "Right, sorry, focusing now. Why should we stop again?"

"Well, your dads are downstairs and they could come up here any minute. Also, I'm all for mackin' on you hardcore, but I think full-on sex the day after our first kiss is not the best idea."

"Santana Lopez is the voice of reason with regard to sex? Who are you and what have you done with the girl who did body shots off Brittany at the Glee party we had in my basement last year?"

"I know, right?" Santana smirked and lifted Rachel up and off of her, then got up from the bed herself. As she leaned down to place another kiss on Rachel's lips, they heard Leroy shout up the stairs, "Hey, is anyone hungry for breakfast up there? We have bacon!"

Santana tried to scoot around Rachel to get downstairs as quickly as possible (Seriously, who wouldn't for bacon?), when the other girl grabbed her wrist and said, "Tana? What does this mean for us?" Santana turned back and rested her forehead against the singer's brow. "I wanna be with you, Rach. I can't say that I'll be any good at it since I've never really been anyone's girlfriend before, but you make me want to try my hardest to be the best goddamned girlfriend I can possibly be. I mean, let's face it, who else could get me to say all this romantic shit all the time but you?"

Rachel smiled in that special way that was all for Santana and pulled the Latina's head down to kiss her one more time. "I am pretty awesome. So are you, by the way. In fact, I think you're wonderful, and I would love to be your girlfriend, too. You don't have to worry too much about not having any experience in the area of dating, since you know my dating history is pretty horrendous as well. We'll just try to make our way through it together, okay?"

Nodding, Santana laced her fingers through Rachel's and leaned forward to whisper, "You know what we should do now?" Rachel leaned even closer to her, focusing on her lips and mumbled, "Hmmm?"

Santana kissed her on the nose, smacked her ass, and shouted, "Go get some bacon!" She bolted before Rachel could react and rushed down the stairs with the singer barreling down right after her. Rachel shouted at the top of her lungs, "Santana, get the _hell_ back here! I am not eating bacon and I will get you back for that!" _Damn, she had impressive breath control. No wonder she could sing and kiss the way she did._

Santana walked through the doors of McKinley later that morning feeling like nothing in the world could stop her. After having an awesome breakfast with the Berry men and her girlfriend (and, wow, that was weird to even think, but in a good way), she had rushed over to her house to change into fresh clothes for school. She'd been all for skipping the day entirely but Rachel had stated in no uncertain terms that her "almost perfect attendance record cannot be marred, especially not with the NYADA auditions coming up in a few months." She followed that up by saying, "Santana, if you meet me at school, I'll make it worth your while after school." This is why Santana was currently walking down the hall to her locker. _Come on, she said it while nibbling on my fucking ear. What was I supposed to do?_

Smirking while thinking this, Santana opened her locker and grabbed her books. She smiled even wider when she caught a whiff of vanilla. She turned around just slightly and watched as Rachel walked by her, swaying her ass just a little more than normal. After their shared breakfast, the girls had decided that they wanted to keep their relationship between the two of them at least for the first week or so. It was really new and they wanted it to be something special that was just theirs for a little while. Santana made sure that Rachel knew that she was not ashamed of her, but they both acknowledged that once the whole school knew about them it would add a lot more pressure to their relationship. Right now, they just wanted to enjoy it. As Rachel sauntered down the hall and Santana tried not to openly stare, both girls were _definitely_ enjoying it.

By the time Glee practice rolled around at the end of the day, both Santana and Rachel had gone from slow-burn mode to full-on horny as hell. The two girls had been trying to one-up each other all day by teasing one another. Rachel had pulled Santana under the bleachers for a hot and heavy make-out session after watching the Cheerio do the splits in mid-air during practice; while Santana had caught Rachel between classes for a tryst in the janitor's closest after the diva kept purposefully bending over and flashing more leg than should be legal at her during stretches in gym class.

All in all, it took all of Santana's energy not to just grab Rachel and skip Glee altogether, but they were both determined to win Nationals this year, and Santana did not need an hour-long earful about the horrible things that could happen if they did not practice their singing regularly. However, Santana smirked evilly when she realized that the performance she had been working on all week would be the perfect way to flirt shamelessly with her new girlfriend without the rest of the Glee club being aware. This was going to be awesome (and really well-timed).

Mr. Schue walked in and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "All right, so I hear that Santana, Rachel, and all the girls have been working on a piece this week. You guys want to take the floor?"

Santana got up and pulled Rachel with her. "So, I met with _mi abuela_ last night and…well, it didn't end up going like I wish it had. You know though, I have a supportive family and amazing friends who are there for me especially right now. Those friends have also gone along with my crazy plan to do this song, so please enjoy."

The music started and Santana started to sing, knowing full-well that Rachel would be there to back her up (no pun intended).

"This was never the way I planned"

"_Not my intention"_

"I got so brave, drink in hand"

"_Lost my discretion"_

Rachel couldn't help but remember pulling Santana in for a kiss last night as well as the definite indiscretion of making out under the bleachers (but have you seen how far Santana can spread her legs when doing the splits?).

"It's not what"

"_I'm used to"_

"Just wanna try you on"

_And on and on_. They both had similar thoughts as they danced with one another: their hips almost touching and their breath comingling.

"_I'm curious for you"_

"**Caught my attention!"**

"**I kissed a girl and I liked it"**

"The taste of her cherry Chapstick"

When this lyric hit, Santana flashed back to this morning as she remembered the feel of Rachel in her lap, the vanilla scent of her hair, and the cherry Chapstick that she really _did_ wear. She almost moaned at the memory. It didn't help that Rachel was running her hands down Santana's torso (playing up to the audience) while they continued to sing.

"**I kissed a girl just to try it"**

"_**I hope my boyfriend don't mind it"**_

_Please, Finnocence couldn't handle the hotness that is my girlfriend._

"**It felt so wrong, it felt so right, don't mean I'm in love tonight**

**I kissed a girl and I liked it, I liked it"**

"**Us girls, we are so magical**

**Soft skin, red lips, so kissable**

**Hard to resist, so touchable**

**Too good to deny it**

**Ain't no big deal, it's innocent"**

They both loved the song, but as the two girls locked eyes across the room, they knew it was much more than "innocent".

"**I kissed a girl and I liked it**

**The taste of her cherry Chapstick**

**I kissed a girl just to try it**

**I hope my boyfriend don't mind it**

**It felt so wrong**

**It felt so right**

**Don't mean I'm in love tonight"**

Well, maybe not in love quite yet because Santana didn't even know what that really meant. Nevertheless, as she slid her arms around Rachel's waist, she thought she might be learning faster than she even realized.

"**I kissed a girl and I liked it  
I liked it"**

At the end of the song, all the boys were drooling and all the girls were laughing and hugging. Mr. Schue was on his feet clapping furiously and all Santana and Rachel wanted to do was leave right then, go back to one of their houses, lock the door, and shut out the world. However, the world invaded in the form of Puck, who had gotten up to hug Santana. As he pulled back, he said, "Yo, San, you get that hickey from the girl you kissed? Did you like it?"

Additional author's note: Finally finished this chapter! I had a lot of fun with it, but sorry again that it was late! This is the first song I have added from the show, obviously, and I'm still working out how to intersperse the thoughts with the words, so my apologies if it looks a little stilted. Let me know what you think!


	6. This Moment

Disclaimer: _Glee_ is not mine. Period. Now on with the show!

Author's note: In regards to the Troubletones: they are still going to battle against New Directions at Sectionals, but if you'll remember when Santana was coming out fully she sang with the Glee club, which is why she practiced and sang _I Kissed A Girl_ with them in the last chapter. We have officially moved into the realm where the M rating is going to become pretty obvious, so hold onto your hats everyone! Enjoy and review please! I do love to hear from you all. It really inspires me to write and get these chapters out faster.

Chapter 6: "This Moment"

Santana froze for all of two seconds after Puck mentioned her hickey, but she quickly recovered. "Like I'd tell you, Puck. You'd just get turned on by anything I say, and that's disgusting, so forget it." No one seemed to notice her awkward pause, except for Quinn. The blonde's eyebrow rose as she noticed the tenseness that had suddenly appeared and then disappeared from Santana's shoulders. She'd known Santana her entire life, and something was definitely up.

At Puck's comment, Brittany perked up and said, "San, are you seeing someone? That's awesome! Maybe you guys can go on a double date with me and Artie and we could all feed the ducks!" This definitely made everyone stare at Santana, since most of them had just assumed that it was Brittany who had left the hickey on Santana's neck. Artie was his normal oblivious self, and they knew Brittany loved him, but theirs was an interesting friendship so it was not out of the realm. However, this new development made everyone extremely interested in figuring out who Santana was getting hickeys from.

"Oh, come one, San, you've gotta tell Puckasaurus! If you're getting it on with another girl, I wanna know all the details! Is it someone here at McKinley?"

"First, seriously Puck, it's none of your fucking business. Second, you can all stop trying to figure it out right now, because it's definitely not _anyone's_ business."

"I actually agree with Santana on this. We should all go back to practicing for Sectionals. They are in two weeks after all." Rachel tried to steer the conversation away from the hickey on Santana's neck (which now that she was looking at it more closely, how had she not realized she was sucking that hard?). Noticing Puck's dazed look, she snapped, "Puck, get your mind out of the gutter and stop using Santana for your own personal fantasies." The girls who were sitting closest to him all hit him on any body part that they could reach easily since they could see that that was definitely what he was doing, which was just gross.

Mr. Schue cleared his throat and they continued with Glee practice, but Quinn was still intensely curious about who could have possibly broken through the walls that everyone could see Santana had put around her heart since Brittany had turned her down last year. Looking around at her fellow Glee teammates, Quinn quickly realized that she wasn't the only one who was determined to find out who Santana was seeing. She needed to appease her desire for fresh gossip, which had been ingrained in her since the first day she had become the most popular girl at McKinley High. You had to love gossip – and know how best to use it – to remain on top in high school.

Once Glee was over for the day, Santana and Rachel left separately so as not to attract attention, but as Rachel walked down the hallway, Santana grabbed her and pulled her into an empty classroom, locking the door behind them. Rachel laughed and whispered, "We really need to stop meeting like this, Santana." The taller girl simply pulled Rachel in for a deep kiss. When they came up for air, Santana said, "You couldn't have warned me that the cover-up had come off at some point, Rach?"

"Well, I was a little busy kissing you at any chance I could get to really notice it. I'm pretty sure it was still working until the song, but my arm must have rubbed most of it off while we were dancing. Sorry." Rachel did not look at all repentant. In fact, she looked downright smug. "You're proud of yourself, aren't you?" Santana asked.

"Well, let's face it, someone has to be pretty hot to leave a hickey on Santana Lopez's neck and have her not yell at them." Santana smirked and pulled Rachel fully into her body, wrapping her arms around her waist and trying to grab the smaller diva's ass. Trapping Santana's hands in her own before they could reach their goal, Rachel laughed and shook her head at Santana's antics. She was successfully distracted from her original plan by how utterly kissable Rachel's lips looked. Santana claimed another kiss from the other girl, before saying, "The answer to your question is yes. _S__uficientemente caliente_ to be with you_._"

"You know, that would have been really sweet if you hadn't insisted on grabbing my ass while saying it, Santana." Santana threw her head back and laughed, and Rachel just shook her head in resignation. Then she did something that completely floored the Latina: she grabbed one of the hands on her ass and slowly slid Santana's index finger into her mouth, sucking on it until Santana's knees just about gave out and she was breathing really heavily. Rachel watched in satisfaction as the taller girl swallowed hard. "It really is fun to surprise you. Speaking of surprises, we should really try to be more careful if we want to have any hope of keeping our relationship to ourselves."

Santana shook her head to snap out of her horny haze. "Yeah, well, Puck may be a problem. The entire club is nosey, but as my bro he might make it his business to get to the bottom of the mystery – if only so he can have a clear image for his jack-off fantasies." Rachel agreed and then added, "Quinn also looked pretty curious, so we might run into issues with her as well."

"Well, that just means we'll have even more fun trying to sneak around." Santana got a serious look in her eyes, "You don't mind, do you? 'Cause if you want, I'll tell the whole world right now."

Rachel smiled and shook her head, cupping Santana's cheek in her hand, "No, I like the intrigue. I do want to tell them soon, but I would love to keep this all to ourselves for now. Maybe we can tell them after Sectionals? I know we are battling against each other in the Troubletones and New Directions respectively; I don't want them to think that we're trying to sabotage each other."

Santana snorted and rolled her eyes, "You mean you don't want Finncompentent to think that I am trying to destroy your chances at winning by getting into your panties." Rachel sighed resignedly and said, "Unfortunately, yes, that is what I mean. You know how he can get, Tana. Are you okay with that?" Santana kissed the tip of Rachel's nose and smiled, pulling her close once more. "It's fine, Rach. I know that we're doing this for ourselves and the teams, not for him." She grabbed Rachel's hand and pulled her towards the door.

"Now, we should get the hell out of this classroom and head home. I've spent way too much time in this school today. Come on, beautiful." Rachel smiled at Santana once again using that term of endearment without realizing it, and both girls left the classroom, one after the other in the hopes that no one would see them. However, they failed to see Brittany, who had gotten lost leaving the choir room and had just now found her way back to the hallway. She watched both girls leave through the front doors and smiled. Santana and Rachel were perfect for each other, and she couldn't be happier. Brittany whistled as she left the school a minute or two behind them. She needed to go tell Lord Tubbington the news!

The next week was insane. Despite their promise to have fun with the intrigue, by the end of the week Santana was ready to cut a bitch and Rachel would have voluntarily given up a solo to get Puck to stop following her around. Apparently, the Glee kids (both New Directions and the Troubletones) had met with one another and all agreed that Rachel and Santana had become quite close so they should try and see if the diva knew who Santana was dating. Kurt and Blaine exchanged a look at this, and Brittany just smiled. Mercedes tried to get Kurt to ask Rachel, but the boy absolutely refused citing his own new friendship with her. He didn't want to get smacked for sticking his nose where it didn't belong. Additionally, he had his own theory about the two girls, one he was definitely not sharing with the whole group. Puck was therefore offered up as someone who could to talk to Rachel since they had their "Jew Connection."

Brittany told them that Lord Tubbington wanted her to stop gossiping so she couldn't ask Santana. In the end, Quinn and Mercedes were chosen, since Quinn had been Santana's friend for years (even though their friendship had been a little rocky for the last little while) and Mercedes was her co-leader for the Troubletones. Finn wanted to see if he could get Rachel to tell him, but that idea was quickly shot down. Rachel really did not like Finn anymore, despite his delusions to the contrary, and they all knew he would not get anything out of her.

It began with Puck popping up whenever Rachel had a free moment, which meant she and Santana didn't have any time to get away together. She'd be just about to run off to the bathroom or the janitor's closet and there he would be: "Hello, my Jewish American Princess. How are you this fine day?"

"I'm not telling you anything, Noah. I don't know who Santana is dating, and even if I did I wouldn't tell you. Go away, please." Puck would then proceed to follow her down the hall until she got to her next class.

Santana was not having any better luck. All throughout Troubletones rehearsals she would get looks from Mercedes, and then she would stalk her to her next class. Meanwhile, Quinn would stare at her during Cheerios practice and then hassle her in the locker room. "Seriously, Q, back the fuck off before I kick your ass again. Just because we've been getting along lately doesn't mean I won't hit you."

"Come on, Santana. It can't be that big a secret. We're just curious: who're you dating?"

"I'm not dating anyone, and I refuse to have this convo anymore. Stop harassing me!"

By the end of the week, both girls were ready to just lock themselves away from all of it. The weekend was an unseasonably warm 60 degrees in early December, so they decided to spend all of it in the heated backyard pool that Santana had (so she lived in a nicer part of town then she let on, so sue her). This is why they were sprawled out on lawn chairs in their bathing suits on Sunday afternoon. Santana's parents were gone for the day and her brother had gone back to school until Christmas break, so they were enjoying their alone time. That is until the front door bell rang. "Ugh, who could that be? I'll be right back, Rach."

Santana walked through the house in her two-piece bathing suit (and damn, it was fun to watch Rachel drool over her in it). She shouted as the door bell rang again, "All right, already! Chill!" She opened the door and almost swore at the sight before her eyes. Fucking Puck! "What do you want, douche?"

"Hey, now, I thought it might be nice to hang out with my best female bro!"

"I thought Rachel was your 'best female bro,' seeing as you have been bugging her all week to find out if I'm seeing anyone."

Puck looked uncomfortable for a minute, and then said, "Fine, I brought beer. Is that enough of a peace offering?"

Santana shook her head and went to close the door, "No. I'm busy, Puck. Thanks for the offer, but I'll see you tomorrow at school. We'll hang another time." With that, she slammed the door in his face before he could even have time to respond. He stood there for a minute or two and then walked back to his car. When he got in, he called Quinn and said "Call everyone. There's definitely something going on. She was in her swimsuit, but she said she was busy and slammed the door right in my face. No, you don't understand: she turned down free beer!" All Puck heard was Quinn dropping the phone on the other end in shock. Now they knew this was serious.

All through the next week, both clubs were really too busy preparing for Sectionals to focus on the mystery of who had given Santana that hickey. They all still watched her, but nothing really seemed to be out of the ordinary. She went to practice (both Cheerios and Glee) and classes, and if she was hard to find after school, they all just assumed she was holed up in her room. She and Rachel were friends, but that had been true for weeks now, so there was nothing really out of the ordinary with that. Kurt and Puck still saw Santana and Rachel at the coffee shop once or twice that week but they were all distracted, so if they did notice longer looks or more skin-on-skin contact between the two girls, they decided not to comment on it. Through it all, the girls were still blissfully happy with one another, and they tried to steal any moment they could with one another, despite how busy they were. Brittany just watched it all with a smile on her face.

Finally, Sectionals arrived. The competition was being hosted at McKinley so the Troubletones were changing in the girls' bathroom, the New Directions girls in the choir room, and the New Directions guys in the mens' bathroom. Rachel hadn't seen Santana all day, so when she got a text from her to meet in the Cheerios' locker room, she rushed out to meet her. "Tana? You in here?" Rachel felt familiar arms wrap around her waist and the small brunette smiled, all the while holding those arms closer to her. "Hey, baby, where have you been all day?"

Santana kissed the back of Rachel's neck and said, "Practicing. I wanted to grab you before we go out there." She turned Rachel around and tilted her chin up. "This is me wishing you luck and telling you that no matter what happens out there today – you and me, we're still solid." Rachel wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's neck as she usually ended up doing because of their height difference and said, "I would be lying if I said that I didn't want this, and you know that's the truth. However, I have never been so okay with the idea of possibly not winning as I am right now. I know that we are both going to rock this, and I am ecstatic that no matter what I will have you at the end of this day." They kissed and as Rachel started to make her way out of the locker room, she shot behind her: "But we're totally going to kick your ass."

She was gone before Santana could form a coherent response, but Rachel could hear her loud laughter echoing down the hall behind her. _Fuck, why is her confidence such a turn-on?_

Both performances went amazingly. The Troubletones blew those ridiculous Unitards out of the water with their mash-up of _Survivor/I Will Survive_, but Santana had to admit that New Directions really killed with the Jackson medley. Which was why, when New Directions was announced as the winner, Santana only felt a slight pang of disappointment. They had been beat, and at least she would probably get some really great victory kisses out of Rachel from all of this. She was even happier with the results when Mr. Schue announced that anyone from the Troubletones who wanted to could join back with New Directions for Regionals and beyond. After an intense discussion (and an agreement that the Troubletones could have at least one number in each competition with any other girls who wanted to join in), they all agreed.

Santana couldn't help but smile as Rachel bum-rushed her and shoved her against a bathroom stall door (after they both checked to make sure no one was in the bathroom with them). She tangled her fingers in Rachel's hair and moaned as the shorter girl bit down on her lower lip. "If this is the reaction I get when you win, I need to make sure you win competitions more often, Rach." Rachel answered by sliding her hands around Santana's waist and used her own body to pin the taller girl to the stall. She pulled back a little and said, "Well, victory definitely makes me horny. However, while I admit it was a bit of a turn-on to see you dancing with Brittany, I would appreciate a warning next time."

Santana leaned back a little, startled. "Are you jealous?"

"Don't get too smug, missy. I was only a little jealous, and only because I really wanted to be the one dancing with you in front of everyone like that."

Santana smiled and said, "Well, how about this: Let's go out to that auditorium and dance together with our friends as we all sing a toast to New Directions' victory. No one will look twice at us, and we can have all the fun we want to."

Rachel smiled and followed Santana out of the bathroom. As she grabbed Santana's hand and pulled her onto the stage to dance to _We Are Young_, she had never been happier. She had the girl and they were all headed to Regionals. Nothing could be better than this moment.


	7. Might Be Ready For

Disclaimer: Not mine, not mine, not mine, not mine!

Author's note: Once more unto the breach, dear friends! Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. Anyway, I meant to add at the end of the last chapter that there will be a little more angst going into this, but I'm definitely embracing the warm and fuzzy moments for now. I hope this update will make up for my long delay in posting this chapter! Please review. I really appreciate all of you who have so far and those who continue to for each chapter, and welcome to all the new readers/reviewers!

Chapter 7: "Might Be Ready For"

Christmas was fast approaching and Santana and Rachel had never been happier. At school they still had to be careful about being seen together, but on the weekends they were able to mostly be themselves. They had yet to tell their parents about one another, though they did often spend meals at one another's homes. However, the allure of having to be covert at home was starting to wear thin, which is why Rachel finally brought it up.

They were lying on the couch together at Rachel's house. Her dads were out and Santana was lying across Rachel's lap while they watched Rent. _So I like _Rent_, so what? It's got a pretty kick-ass, slightly dark storyline, okay? Sheesh, get off my fucking back about it._ Rachel leaned down to kiss Santana's lips, breaking her from her reverie. She looked down at the girl lying across her lap said, "Tana? You think we could tell our parents about us?" That definitely got the slightly sleeping Latina's attention.

"You want to tell people?"

"Not 'people,' but it would be nice if we could be ourselves around our families at least. I don't mind sneaking around at school, especially since the Glee club is so nosy. However, it does get frustrating having to sit across from you on the couch and not be able to hold your hand while we watch TV with my parents or have dinner with yours. Do you not want them to know?" Rachel got a little furrow of slight distress in her forehead.

Santana smoothed the crinkle away with her fingers as she sat up and faced Rachel. "Rach, no, I really do want to tell them. You know I told you I would tell the world right now if we both wanted to. I just want to make sure we are both prepared, okay? My brother will give us no end of shit, and your dads will never let us go into your room and close the door again. Also, I'm pretty sure sleepovers would be out. Rachel smiled slightly and sighed. "I know, but I think the benefits will outweigh what we'll lose. We don't have to tell them yet if you're not ready."

"I am ready, beautiful. I just wanted to make sure we were both on the same page. We'll tell each of our parents tonight. Do you want to do it separately or together?"

"While I would love to have you with me, I fear my fathers might get a little out of hand if they think you've been 'defiling' their little girl."

Santana smirked and flitted her eyebrows up and down suggestively. "Defiling, huh? When do we get to that part? Are there handcuffs involved? _Me gusta!_"

Rachel laughed and dodged out of the way of Santana's reaching hands. "Oh, no, you don't, Santana! I know you too well, _querida_. You keep those wandering hands to yourself!" Then she leaned forward and whispered in Santana's ear, "Or I really _will_ have to get out those handcuffs in my nightstand, _chica sucia_."

Santana choked, "And you say _I'm _the "dirty girl?" Rachel just laughed and dodged out of the way again as Santana lunged for her. "Well, they do say it takes one to know one. I guess you could say I'm the pot, you're the kettle, and I'm calling you black." With that, she raced up the stairs with Santana in pursuit. When the taller girl caught her, Santana threw her down on the bed and started to suck on her neck. She pulled Rachel's hands above her head and held them there, then slid her thigh in between the shorter brunette's legs. As Santana slid her tongue down Rachel's neck, the latter girl moaned and arched into her, inadvertently thrusting her center into the thigh wedged between her legs. Rachel moaned louder, and pulled Santana up by her hair into a deep, bruising kiss.

When Santana was sure that Rachel would pull back and tell them to stop, the diva instead pulled back to rip off Santana's top and throw it across the room. She rolled them over and gazed down at her prize. "Definitely a _chica sucia_, but you're _my_ _chica sucia_." She leaned down and began to suck on Santana's collarbone, one of the other girl's weaknesses that she had discovered early on in their relationship. Santana moaned and could care less that she sounded like a bitch in heat. _Rachel Berry is fucking hot, and she is making me feel all kinds of amazing right now._

Santana slid her hands up Rachel's sides and slowly took her shirt with her, pulling her away just enough to get it over her head. What she saw was one of the most erotic sights she had ever seen (and she'd had sex with Brittany, who was rumored not to wear panties under her Cheerios spankies. Rumor confirmed.) Rachel was wearing a black bra, and it was not at all the type that Quinn and the other Cherrios would have guessed when they first started calling Rachel "Man-hands." This was a supportive, practical bra (Santana would have expected nothing less), but it had lace covering the front and made the Latina think of dark dance floors and sweaty sheets. Fuck, Rachel was killing her!

Rachel could not keep her eyes, or lips, off of Santana's breasts either. Her decently enhanced C-cups were encased in a red bra that was equally lacy. While she had expected nothing less from the hottest girl in school, she was still very appreciative. Rachel was currently showing this appreciation by leaving the worst (read: best) hickey on the swell of Santana's right breast. Santana moaned and arched into Rachel's lips while she gripped the back of the diva's head and cried out, "Fuck, Rach, don't stop. _Jesucristo!__Chúpame__más__, por favor!_

Rachel looked up with lust-filled eyes and whispered, "_Si_, of course, _querida_. I'll suck as hard as you want." At those words, Santana thrust her thigh up forcefully yet sensually. Rachel moaned louder than anything either of them had heard before. Her body shook and trembled for a minute or so, and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly as she gripped Santana's upper arms. Rachel slumped forward a little and Santana had to support her. Carefully sliding the smaller girl to the side to lay down on the bed next to her, Santana propped herself up on her arm and whispered, "You okay, beautiful?"

Rachel slowly opened her eyes and said, "Yeah, I'm…really great." She looked very dazed.

Santana laughed. "I finally found a sure fire way of getting you to keep your sentences small."

Rachel rolled her eyes and turned on her side to face Santana. "I'm a little embarrassed. I didn't mean for that to happen – at least not so quickly and unexpectedly."

"Hey, you've got nothing to be embarrassed about, Rachel. The best orgasms are that way, and trust me when I say I wouldn't have been much farther behind you. It was amazing, and you are so gorgeous I couldn't take my eyes off you, then or now." Santana sealed the sentiment with a slow, gentle kiss.

Rachel asked, "Are you okay? Do you want me to try to…?"

Santana shrugged and said, "Honestly? I'm okay right now. A little worked up…" At Rachel's sidelong glance, she corrected, "Okay, a lot worked up, but I always feel like that after we make out. I know you're still not 100% comfortable with the whole sex and orgasms thing. So we'll leave it where we are for now, okay? I can wait." Rachel looked skeptical. "Hey, I'm not that much of a sex addict! Besides, I totes hear your dad's car in the driveway, and I _really _don't think we want them finding out about us like this."

Rachel squeaked and tried to get up quickly yet gracefully to get dressed. Nevertheless, she promptly fell off the bed. Santana couldn't stop laughing, even while Rachel threw Santana her shirt and tried to scramble into her own.

All Santana could think as she sat awkwardly waiting in her own living room was that they should have expected this. When she finally told her parents about the wonderful girl she was dating, they would of course ask for her name. She really shouldn't have been surprised that they immediately asked if Rachel's parents knew, and even less surprised when they told her to invite her girlfriend and her fathers over for Christmas dinner. When Santana pointed out that they were Jewish, her father said, "Nonsense, _mija_, Hiram works with me at the hospital, and I know that he mentioned that they try to celebrate both Christmas and Chanukah since Leroy was raised Christian. I'm sure they would love the invite!"

When Santana called to invite them, Leroy agreed that Christmas dinner would be lovely. Santana could definitely hear Hiram shouting in the background, "We may like her as a person. But if she hurts our little girl in any way, they'll never find the body!" She could also hear Rachel yelling, "Daddy!" at him in the background. All of this was why Santana was nervously waiting for the doorbell to ring in her own house. She really didn't want to end up on the side of the road in some ditch somewhere courtesy of Hiram Berry. When the doorbell did finally ring, she jumped so far off the couch that her older brother burst out laughing. She smacked him for it on her way to answer the door, and he yelled, "Hey, no hitting!"

"_Mija_, don't hit your brother. Antonio, don't bait your sister."

"He started it!"

"I don't care who started it. Now don't be rude, Santana. Go answer the door, please."

With a huff, Santana made her way to the door filled with equal portions of excitement and dread. Excited to see her girlfriend, but also terrified of seeing the Berry men now that they knew their daughter was her girlfriend. She pasted a smile on her face and was immediately swept up in a great big, vanilla-scented hug by her overly enthusiastic (no surprise there) girlfriend. "Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah, Tana!" She smiled and looked nervously at Rachel's fathers who were standing behind her. "Don't look so terrified, Santana," said Leroy. "We know you really care for our daughter, and we are happy for you both." Hiram nodded agreement. "Unless you hurt her. Then we'd have to hurt you, which is not an idle threat since you know I'm a surgeon. I could make it look like an accident." At Santana's horrified look, he burst out laughing and her own father joined in.

"Ah, Hiram, I do love your sense of humor. It takes a lot to shock my Santana, so thank you for that! Please, come in gentlemen. We'll take your coats, and we can all sit down for a nice meal."

After some shuffling around the table, with Santana and Tony pushing each other every once in awhile, they all sat down. Her parents were sitting on opposite ends of the table, with Tony next to her mom and Santana next to him, and Rachel on her other side with Hiram and Leroy on the other side of the table. The meal was going relatively well and everyone was really getting along. Leroy asked, "So, Santana, what are your plans for after high school?"

"Dad!"

"No, it's cool, Rach. To be honest, I hadn't really thought about it too much until this year. I'm a Cheerio, so I always kinda thought that I would be going to college on a cheerleading scholarship."

"You're not dumb, Tana."

"No, Rach, I'm not. However, I do know what my strengths are. I am a really great cheerleader and gymnast, and I've never been afraid to use that."

Leroy paused in contemplation and then asked, "Have you considered going to college for music?"

Santana looked at him curiously and her parents perked up at this. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you have a beautiful voice, Santana. While you may not feel like Broadway is for you, you could probably do very well at Julliard for vocals and maybe pursue a career as a singer?" Leroy said encouragingly.

Rachel nodded as well. Her mom spoke up and said, "Santana, we have noticed how much you love performing and how good you are at it. It wouldn't hurt to think about."

"With Glee you would even have a chance at a scholarship if you auditioned, Tana."

Santana shook her head, "I don't know. I really don't think I could measure up to the others who would be going out for it. I mean, I'm hot shit, and I definitely gots it goin' on, but so do all the other students who apply to a place like Julliard."

Tony snorted and said, "Plus, you'd have to be committed to something for more than a month. That's really not your strong suit, sis."

Santana froze and everyone at the table got really quiet. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, come on, San. I love you, but you're not that into long-term things. You were on and off with Puck for years, then your friendship with Quinn fizzled, and I haven't see Brittany in –"

"Don't bring up things you know nothing about, Tony."

Everyone's shocked eyes were focused on Santana who was staring straight at Rachel. It was the diva who had addressed Tony, right around when Santana would have thrown herself across the table to beat the shit out of her brother. No one had ever stuck up for her like that before. Now everyone seemed to be waiting to see what would happen next, even their parents.

"Hey, I was just joking around."

"You don't know what Santana has gone through with any of those people. You don't know how she's had to defend herself at school against them, and sometimes even defend them despite their lack of support for her. I get that it was a joke, but those people are part of your sister's life, and if she didn't tell you about what happened to any of those relationships and friendships, then it really isn't your place to comment on them."

When Tony seemed frozen in shock, Santana took steps to break the ice – despite her continued feelings of hurt at the mention of her failed friendship and relationship with Brittany. "How about the stupid name of that group we challenged at Sectionals, huh? The Unitards? I mean, come on!"

With that, everyone burst out laughing, and the conversation switched over to their chances at Regionals. They debated the odds now that New Directions was back together again and spoke of how college was going for Tony. The rest of the dinner went well overall. As Santana walked Rachel to the car behind her dads, the Latina grasped her hand and pulled her to a stop. "Thanks. You know, for defending my 'honor' or whatever." She was really horrible at saying thank you. Rachel knew what she meant though, and she leaned up and kissed her on the cheek. "You're welcome, love." They both froze as that word slipped out of Rachel's mouth.

Rachel looked like a deer in the headlights, and Santana figured she probably didn't look much better. Santana's heart started to hurt and she had a little trouble breathing. _Why is it so fucking hot out here? There's snow on the ground for fuck's sake!_ "I…I mean, you know, I had a lovely night and I care for you, and I really like being your girlfriend. I didn't mean-"

"No, I get it. Yeah…you know, me too. Lovely night."

Rachel was definitely starting to look even more freaked out and Santana couldn't blame her. _When the hell do I ever say "lovely night?" Fuck, I don't even know what to say to her!_ Rachel just nodded slowly and took a deep breath. "Okay, let's start over. I had a great time, Santana. Thank you for having us over, and you are most welcome for anything you think you might need to thank me for. I will see you when school begins once more on Monday." Santana had never heard Rachel so stiff and formal, and she knew it was because the shorter girl was really nervous. It made her smile a little. Santana decided to let that slip of a word which _definitely_ made her uncomfortable just pass on by, for now. She kissed the tip of Rachel's nose followed by a peck on her lips since her dads were right nearby waiting in the car. "You are most welcome," she teased. "Now go get in the car before your dads really do decide to kill me. I'll see ya Monday, 'kay?."

Rachel nodded, reassured, though they both knew that they would feel weird about this moment for at least a little while. As Rachel slid into the car and Santana turned to watch them drive away, she couldn't help feeling like the blissful introductory state of their new relationship was about to be shaken up more than they might be ready for.

Additional note: There you go! Sexy times (of a kind), family times, and a little bit of tension! Let me know how you all feel it's going. I have about 20 chapters total I think I want for this story and a basic outline, but these things always seem to evolve as I write them, so we'll see. Please review!


	8. I Love You

Disclaimer: I am still neither own nor make any money off of _Glee_. I just do this for fun!

Author's note: Look, two chapters in one post! Aren't you lucky? By that I mean that life took over once again, and I decided to just finish Chapter 8 and post them both at the same time. Inspiration! Anyway, I really hope you all enjoy this and remember that I love both of these characters. I just needed to mix things up a bit. Review!

Chapter 8: "I Love You"

When Mr. Schue told the Glee club that he was going to be proposing to Ms. Pillsbury and that he needed ideas for a song to have the club sing to her, Santana wanted to roll her eyes. So she did. This was immediately followed by Rachel smacking her arm lightly without even looking over from the next seat in the choir room.

"Ow! That hurt! What was that for?"

"Please, I barely grazed you, and we both know that you were rolling your eyes, Santana. I could feel it, and I'm sure even Puck could feel it from where he's sitting all the way at the end of the row." Santana turned to glare at Puck, but he was nodding his head in agreement obviously having overheard Rachel ragging on her. _Ugh, I even find it slightly cute when she makes fun of me. I need to get my bad-assery back. Maybe call Finnoucuous some more ridiculous names? Yeah, that always cheers me right up. Shit, he even has a stupid-ass dumb jock look on his face right now. Wait, is he staring at my girl? _Santana sat up straighter in her chair and glared daggers at Finnerd, because he was _definitely_ staring at Rachel with that "I can't believe how in love with you I am" look.

"Yo, Mr. Schue. I'm all for helping you out with this, but maybe we should see if Finnane needs to go to the nurse's office. I think he's starting to develop an eye problem that will get seriously worse if he does not stop staring at girls who have no interest in him." Rachel glanced over at Santana as did the rest of the club, but Santana just shrugged it off and said, "Seriously? We don't need to see him fantasizing in the middle of Glee practice. That shit should be reserved for his fucking bedroom or something—and ewww, now I've got _that_ hideous image stuck in my head. _No me gusta._"

Mr. Schue shook his head and said, "While I don't agree with your language, Santana – and I've asked you not to swear during Glee practice – Finn, I do have to agree. You don't seem to be paying attention to rehearsal, and it appears as though you are starting to make students other than just Santana uncomfortable." Mr. Schue gestured towards the row of girls around Rachel, and they all appeared to be trying to shuffle out of the way of Finn's direct line of sight. Finn glanced away and shrugged his shoulders trying to not look like he was still staring at Rachel. Santana spent the rest of Glee glaring right back at him until Finn practically bolted from the choir room at the end of practice.

"Well, that was interesting." Rachel said as she and Santana walked to the latter girl's car to drive back to the Latina's house (if anyone asked, they were going to study for their Spanish test at the end of the week. Since Mr. Schue was a horrible Spanish teacher, this wasn't hard to believe).

"What?"

"You spent the entire practice trying to stab Finn with your eyes, Tana. Do you want to tell me what's going on?" Rachel reached for Santana's hand, but the other girl shook her off. "Nothing, I just don't like how Finnerkel is always staring at you and undressing you with his eyes. As someone who has actually been undressed in front of him, let me tell you, it is not a pleasant experience."

Rachel shook her head. "First of all, I agree, and I am glad that you spoke up and that Mr. Schue came to my defense for once. However, seeing as you just mentioned one of the reasons that Finn will never be with me, since he lied to me about that among other things, I don't see why you need to get so defensive."

"I don't get defensive!"

Rachel just looked at Santana until the Latina chuckled and finally agreed, "Fine. You're right. I do get defensive, and I did get that way today. He just needs to learn to keep his eyes and his mind to himself, and he's still on my shit list for outing me to the entire fucking town."

"Write this moment down, ladies and gentlemen! Santana Lopez admitted that Rachel Berry was right and she was wrong!" Rachel then grabbed Santana's hand and danced a little crazy jig of some sort around the parking lot. Santana couldn't resist her silliness (even if she did roll her eyes at least once) and she joined in, laughing loudly at Rachel's antics. Neither girl saw Becky watching them from the school; though if they had, they would have known that Sue was going to know that there was something between them within the next few moments.

The next week was pretty uneventful. The Glee kids spent the time coming up with songs that they thought would be perfect for Mr. Schue's proposal. Ultimately (and unsurprisingly, to them), Santana and Rachel came up with the song that Mr. Schue chose, and he chose them to sing the lead vocals on it. Even Santana had to admit that none of them had seen anything more beautiful than the proposal right after they finished singing "We Found Love." If it was a little hard for her to get through the song with the tears in her eyes, only Rachel would ever know since she was singing with her.

Riding high off of the end to a pretty awesome day, Santana walked into the Cheerios locker room with a smile on her face and humming the lyrics that were still running through her head – _and yeah, my heart. So I'm a bit of a sap. Que? I blame Rach._

It was with those lyrics in mind that she literally ran into another Cheerio just inside the door. "Whoa, watch out! Brittany?"

Brittany was crying – not just small tears, like the time she found out the Beatles weren't actually a band of singing bugs – huge, body shaking tears. The kind of tears that Santana had to hold the blonde through when they saw Lord Tubbington eat a baby bird. Santana automatically grabbed her oldest friend (and first love) and held her close without even a word needing to be said (for now).

When the crying slowed down enough, Santana asked, "Britt-britt? What happened?"

"I broke up with Artie."

Santana froze. "Why?"

"He called me stupid."

"WHAT? I'll kill that rolling _saco de mierda_!"

"No, San, don't do anything stupid. He's not worth it. If you hit him, you'll get thrown out of school for sure, and we can't lose more unicorns like you!"

Santana tried to take deep breaths. "Okay, tell me what happened so I can make it better, okay?"

"We were talking about what happened today in Glee. When I brought up how nice it was that you defended Rachel, Artie said that you were just doing it so you could make fun of Finn. I told him that wasn't true because you really like Rachel. Then he said, 'Don't be naïve, Santana only ever does things for herself.' I said that he was being rude, and that I knew the word he just called me was another word for stupid. You taught me that. I also told him that I wasn't as stupid as he thought since I knew he'd been checking out Sugar every day during Glee."

Santana growled and tried to get up to go beat the shit out of Wheels, but Brittany held her back. "It's really okay, San. I told him he could go on staring all he wanted, because I deserved to be with someone who doesn't call me names and look at other bees in the hive if they're supposed to be my bee." At Santana's quizzical look, Brittany explained, "You know, that phrase people always say. There are many other bees in the hive?"

"Right, of course. A lot of fish in the sea, too."

"Well, duh, silly. It's the ocean, that's where they all live."

Santana smiled fondly at the way Brittany saw the world. It's what made her fall in love with the blonde dancer in the first place. Love. Oh, _Dios mio!_ Brittany was single. This was her first love, right there in front of her, finally available. Santana wasn't available though. _Shit, mierda, shiit _(She'd been trying for weeks to get Rachel to teach her swear words in Hebrew – what good was the Jewish diva but to promote her juvenile delinquency – but Rachel begrudgingly informed her that, like many other Hebrew words, saying "shit" in Hebrew was just shit in English…but with Hebrew accenting).

Santana had to get out of here. She needed to go somewhere to think. First, she had to get Brittany home.

She wasn't sure how she got there, but the next thing Santana knew she was getting up from the couch in her living room and going to answer the door. She must have driven Brittany home and then driven back to her house, but she couldn't remember any of it. She was surprised (and yet not) when she opened the door and found Puck standing there. "What?"

"You called five minutes ago and told me I needed to get my 'mowhawked-ass' over to your place and 'bring as much booze as possible.' Check and check. You okay?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Just get the fuck in here and hand over the alcohol."

"Works for me." Puck knew when to keep silent. Santana would tell him when she was ready (and really wasted).

Santana squinted and tried to swat away the light that was shining in her face. She couldn't figure out why she felt so horrible. _Why does it feel like every horrible Glee club ever invented is screeching in my ear right now?_ It took her a minute, but she finally realized that her alarm (which she had forgotten to turn off for the weekend) was blaring from her phone which was lying right next to her on the floor. _Wait, the floor? What the fuck? Jesus, even my mental shouts are hurting right now._

It took another few moments for Santana to realize that she was wrapped up in a towel on the floor of her living room, and…yup, she was completely naked under the towel. As she tried to move carefully so her head wouldn't fall off, Santana hit something to her right that grunted. She almost shrieked like a complete girl, but that would have been too painful. Instead she settled for kicking the thing that made the noise. Puck snorted wildly and rolled into the couch, jerking awake. "Shit, what the hell, San? Ow, how much did we drink? Why are you in a towel? Why am I in your silk bathrobe? Why is the goddamn sun so bright? Wait, when did it become the fucking morning?"

Santana put her hand over his mouth and waited until Puck's eyes focused (as much as they could) on her. "Stop asking so many fucking questions. Quiet the fuck down and I don't know. I can't remember much right now. I'm still trying to figure out where the fuck our clothes went."

Just as Santana was struggling to her feet to try to go find something more suitable to wear, the doorbell rang. "_Dios mio!_" It rang again and Santana rushed to the door as fast as possible to get the noise to stop. "_Cállate!_"

Santana froze. This was a nightmare. It had to be. She was not answering her door in nothing but a towel while her girlfriend stood on the other side. She was not watching as Rachel's eyes widened, first in surprise, then in pleasure. This. Could. Not. Be. Happening.

Rachel smiled, "Tana! I can't say I know what prompted this, but I am _definitely _not opposed to you answering the door like this for me. Though you should be careful, it could have been anyone." Just as Rachel finished speaking, Puck walked into view of the front door and said, "Hey, San, who is it? It's really too fucking early for solicitors and I am definitely not dressed for it." He glanced up, and the look on his face had to match what Santana was feeling right now.

Rachel's eyes widened even further and Santana could do nothing but watch in horror as the diva's eyes welled up with despair and worse…betrayal. She didn't say anything. She just spun around and raced for her car. Santana swore and raced after her. "Fuck, Rachel! It's not what it looks like!"

Rachel spun back and shouted, "Not what it looks like? Santana, you're in a fucking towel! Puck is naked under your robe, and don't get me started on how ridiculous he looks in that! How could I possibly misunderstand this?"

"I called him because I needed someone to talk to. Brittany broke up with Artie and-" She realized her mistake instantly.

Rachel's face froze over and she whispered, "I see. Brittany is single so you had to figure out what to do. You called Puck to talk about it and drink. Then just to make sure what you feel for her is really real, you slept with him? Is that it?"

"What? That doesn't even make sense!"

"Oh, really? Well, none of this makes sense, Santana! Please tell me how I can be singing with my girlfriend one day and then finding her hung-over and naked with her ex-fuck buddy the next day?"

"I don't know! I can't remember!"

Rachel just looked so broken and resigned. "I should have seen this coming. We were doing well together, but then I said that word we've been avoiding and things started to get tense. You didn't say it, but I could see it. Then the girl of your dreams became single once more, and you didn't know where to turn. So you went to Puck because he can at least give you what I'm not sure I'm ready to give."

"Rachel, listen to yourself. You aren't even making sense. I'm a _lesbian_. Even if I wanted sex, I wouldn't go to Puck for it. I'm the one who's been stopping us from going further. I want to be with you."

"Yes, but can you honestly tell me that you're not clothing-challenged this morning because you're still in love with Brittany?"

"Rach, beautiful-"

"NO! Don't. Don't call me that. You may not remember what happened last night, and you might not have slept with Puck. But you still can't tell me you love me, can you?"

Santana was at a loss for words. She'd only ever said that word to someone else once, and the end result was her heart eventually being stomped on. She didn't know what she was feeling right now, but either way the words would not leave her mouth.

Rachel smiled the saddest smile Santana had ever seen. "I meant what I said that night we kissed, Tana. You are so precious to me, but I can't be the consolation prize. We both deserve better than that. You need to be with the girl you love with all your heart. Brittany is your first love. Go get her." As Santana went to speak, Rachel placed her finger over her lips to silence her and cupped her cheek. She placed the softest kiss on Santana's cheek and just as she ducked into her car, she whispered, "_Ani ohevet otach_."

As Rachel sped off, Santana stood in the middle of her front yard in just a towel with Rachel's words reverberating through her head. She'd Googled that particular phrase on her own the other day, not wanting to ask Rachel about it. As Puck tried to pull her back inside before she was arrested for public indecency, the translation of those three simple words kept playing on repeat in her mind and began to slowly burn themselves into her rebreaking heart: "I love you."

Additional note: I know I'm evil! I make the chapter title sound so encouraging and then it ends like this! Don't worry, there will be more soon just bear with me. There will be a light at the end of the tunnel. Loves me some reviews!


	9. Out The Door

Disclaimer: _Glee_ is the property of Ryan Murphy and his sometimes-crazy mind.

Author's note: Hey all! Here is the latest chapter. There is still strife, but every good story must have some strife. Don't worry; I'm planning something exciting for the next chapter. I'm working on some layout changes this chapter. Please let me know if there is anything that really bothers you, but I most specifically want to make sure that the breaks in time are actually marked (with +++++), since I forgot to make that change when I realized that was not reading the automatic breaks that Word was making for me.

Chapter 9: "Out the Door"

Santana came to school on Monday more pissed than she could ever remember being. She'd tried to call Rachel all of Saturday and Sunday, but Rachel hadn't picked up at all. When Santana finally broke down and went over to her house, Rachel's fathers had refused to let her in.

"We don't know what happened, Santana. She won't talk to us. However, we really can't let you in if Rachel doesn't want to see you. Maybe you can try to talk to her on Monday at school." With that, Leroy closed the door.

Between Brittany calling to ask if she wanted to hang out, almost no memory of the Friday night she spent with Puck, and the stress of constantly texting to – and checking for responses from – Rachel, Santana was in a really shitty mood. The second the Latina walked through the front doors of McKinley High, everyone parted before her and started whispering. The students were just getting used to the slightly nicer version of Santana who would walk the halls with Rachel Berry and get pulled away by the shorter girl whenever she felt tempted to punch someone. Now? Now they were all getting out of the way and running for cover from the girl who was exuding anger with every step she took towards her locker.

As Santana opened her locker, she felt a hand fall on her shoulder.

"Hey, lesbro, how you doing?"

"Get. Your. Fucking. Hand. Off. My. Shoulder."

"Whoa! What'd I do?" As he asked this, Puck definitely removed his hand as fast as humanly possible.

"I can't even look at you right now. I went to you for help this weekend, Puck, and all I got was fucked!"

Puck smirked, but when he saw that Santana wasn't in a laughing mood, he schooled his face into a more serious expression.

"San, I know you're upset, but come on."

"No! Go the fuck away. All you do is fuck up my life!"

Puck looked around and realized that they were starting to draw a crowd. Making a decision, he grabbed Santana's arm and dragged her towards the gym. It was too early in the morning for anyone to be in there. The space would be perfect for what he had in mind.

"What the hell, Puck! What part of 'go away' did you not understand?"

"The part where I don't care. San, you need to stop doing this. You just bottle all your shit up and take it out on everyone around you."

"What are you, a fucking therapist? I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Puck forcefully stated. "You need to face the fact that you're pissed off at yourself, not Rachel, not Brittany, and not me."

"You don't know shit!" Santana shouted.

"I've known you since you were in diapers, San. I was your first boyfriend and your first time. I know you better than you think. So come on, get it all out. I'm here."

"Fuck you! I don't need to get shit out, and you don't know anything about me. If you did, you would've told me to get over myself. You wouldn't have come over and I would've gone to Rachel's. You would have helped me with me, not help me fuck everything up!" With that, Santana threw a punch at Puck's face. He took it, spit blood on the floor, and just let her keep going.

"I would still have a girlfriend if Brittany hadn't said anything! I would still be with Rachel if you hadn't come over to my fucking house! I would be spending my days with her if you hadn't let me drink! I wouldn't have given Rachel a reason to doubt me if we'd just kept our fucking clothes on and not gone skinny dipping in my pool! Why couldn't I just say the words? She just needed to hear the fucking words, and I couldn't pull my head out of my ass long enough to say them!"

Santana kept punching, only this time she was hitting his stomach, each hit falling with less and less strength behind it. Through it all, Santana just kept saying over and over, "Fucked it up. Fucked it up. Why? Why am I such a fuck-up?" When Santana finally stopped hitting and started crying, Puck wrapped his arms around her and held her as they both slid to the floor.

After a while, when her tears seemed to have mostly stopped, Puck asked, "You okay now?"

Santana sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her bruised knuckles. "No," she paused. "I don't think I'll ever be okay again." When Puck didn't have anything to really say to that, Santana asked, in the smallest voice Puck had ever heard her use, "Can you just hold me for a few minutes more?"

Puck nodded and they just sat there on the floor of the gym, covered in a mix of blood and tears, one friend trying to help hold together the broken pieces of the other.

In the weeks following their breakup, Rachel mostly hung out with Kurt and – almost by accident – Blaine hung out a lot more with Santana. They weren't choosing sides, as they both pointed out repeatedly; they simply wanted to be there for their friends. The coffee shop trips that they all used to share were a little problematic, but Kurt would text Blaine if he and Rachel were headed there, and vice versa, and they managed to avoid most run-ins.

Blaine and Santana were chatting one day when it was brought up that she (and the other Troubletones) had not had a chance to sing any Michael Jackson with New Directions.

"It's crazy! I would totes have _killed_ singing Michael songs."

"I know! We should ask Mr. Schue if we can sing Michael songs this week for our assignment."

"Warbler, you're a genius. This is why we're friends."

Just as they were finishing this conversation, Sebastian walked up behind them at the coffee shop. "Do my ears deceive me? Did I hear someone mention Michael Jackson? That can't be true, because The Warblers are going to be doing Michael and I know that we can top you in any song you choose to sing."

Santana almost crushed her coffee cup in her hand in frustration. "We can sing circles around your asses, OW."

Sebastian snorted and said, "Sure you could, you Latina lesbian you."

Blaine had to hold Santana back from slugging Sebastian. While he didn't understand a lot of Spanish, he was pretty sure she was calling the other boy some pretty unpleasant things.

"First, we're all gay here, so lay off the gay jokes, Sebastian. They're low. Second, let's see who's better. The Warblers against New Directions. Sing-off."

"Fine by me. Just name the time and place. We'll be there."

"Oh, we'll be there, dipshit," Santana growled. "You just better bring it, bitch."

That night found both clubs in the parking garage at the mall, facing off. Santana had to admit, it was a pretty awesome showdown. They sang the shit out of _Bad_, and Santana was actually having a lot of fun (though it did hurt whenever she had to sing near Rachel and listen to her sing in return). In the end, however, the entire night was ruined when Sebastian threw a slushy that hit Blaine directly in the eyes.

"What the fuck?" Santana shouted, but just as she and all the other Glee guys were about to kick the shit out of Sebastian, Kurt yelled to get their attention. Blaine was on the ground crying out in pain, and he wasn't getting up. Something was definitely wrong. They rushed him to the hospital and when they were told that there was something in the slushy that had scratched Blaine's eye, Santana saw red.

Puck and Sam jumped in front of Santana to stop her from leaving the hospital. "San, you don't want to do anything stupid," Puck warned.

"No, I really, _really_ do."

Sam agreed, "Come on, Santana, you'll get into more trouble than it's worth."

"More than it's worth? That's my fucking friend in there! _Perra__pagará_!"

Santana was about ready to slug both of the boys trying to prevent her from leaving. It wasn't until Rachel, who was comforting Kurt, spoke up that Santana stopped trying to fight her way out of the hospital.

"Santana. Yes, Sebastian is a bitch, and yes, he will pay, but right now we need to be here for our friends."

Santana tried to hold Rachel's eyes since these were the first words that the other girl had said to Santana in about a month, but once the diva had said what she needed to, she went back to focusing on Kurt…which is what Santana decided to do. She'd take care of Blaine, make sure he was okay (and by extension, Kurt and Rachel), and then she'd go all Lima Heights Adjacent on Sebastian's ass.

The beat down ended up being a battle of voices, and Santana totally slaughtered Sebastian during their _Smooth Criminal_ battle (and God she wished Rachel could have seen how smoking hot she was in her suit and fedora), but of course what she'd been trying to do was get him to admit that he put something else in the slushy, something designed to hurt Blaine's eyes. She got a recording of it, but when she brought it to her teammates, they all (including her eventually) decided that the more important thing was to make sure that the Warblers knew what kind of Captain they had. The look on Sebastian's face _was_ pretty entertaining when his team ditched him to dance and sing with New Directions. Santana might have also spoken to the Principal of Dalton, and Sebastian was suspended for a week and put on probation as the Captain of the Warblers. _Take that permanent mark on your record, bitch! What? If I'm not allowed to punch him in his smug little face, I can at least get him into trouble for the shit that he deserves._

All in all, it could have been a worse outcome. However, Santana still couldn't smile about it as she watched Rachel leave Blaine's house from her car, waiting for the girl to leave before she went to check on Warbles. She'd trade making that ass-hat Sebastian suffer in a minute for even one smile sent her way from Rachel.

As the next week passed, Santana's mood just got worse. She hadn't threatened to hit anyone in the school for a while now, but she really hadn't needed to (after everyone saw what Puck's face and Santana's knuckles looked like that first day she'd been back in school, people were pretty much staying out of her way). The fact that Rachel wouldn't even look at her was killing her, and it hurt more and more now that Rachel had actually showed that she cared enough about Santana to stop her from attacking Sebastian. When Spanish class rolled around and Mr. Schue insisted on continuing to butcher her native tongue, Santana snapped. _I may have to sit here with a broken heart, but I don't have to listen to this shit. I could teach this class better than Mr. Schue._ This is why she reported him to the Principal.

When she discovered that they were going to have a sing-off with the fluently Spanish-speaking David Martinez (who is totally gay, by the way, in every sense of the word), she was thrilled. Hopefully they could get this shit dealt with. She was gearing up for her performance of _La Isla Bonita_ when Brittany came up to her.

"Hi, San!"

"Hey, Britt. How're you?"

"Oh, I'm great. I was tempted to push Artie down the stairs this morning, but I knew that it would be unfair to possibly make other people be in wheelchairs if he fell on them."

Santana smiled. Brittany always made her smile no matter how sad she was feeling.

"There! I've been looking for that smile on your face all day, San. I'm glad that worked. Why are you sad?"

"What makes you think I'm sad, Britt?" Santana said glancing away and trying to deflect from the conversation she _really_ didn't want to have right now.

"Santana. I can tell when you're sad. You always tell me not to call myself stupid. So please don't treat me like I am."

Santana jerked her eyes up to Brittany's quickly and said, "Hey, I would never—" at Brittany's severe look (the one where Santana always knew she was in trouble), Santana chuckled and shook her head.

"You're right. You always are." Brittany nodded her head.

"I know. So what's really wrong?"

"Just…emotional stuff."

"Did you and Rachel get into a fight?"

Santana looked more closely at her friend.

"Why would you think it had something to do with Rachel?"

"Well, you guys have been dating for a while now, and you didn't walk in together this morning. Rachel hasn't been talking to anyone and you just keep glaring."

Santana gaped at Brittany. "How did you know we were dating?"

"Oh, please, San. I've been able to read your heart in your eyes for years. Plus, I saw you two kissing, and I know that you only go into the janitor's closet to make out with people."

Shaking her head, Santana nodded and gave a sad sigh, "We were together. Now? Not so much."

"Is this because I broke up with Artie?"

"Yes. No. I don't know."

"Well, that's just silly, San. You know I love you, but I never thought we would get back together."

Santana raised her eyebrow.

"Why not?"

"San, I've never seen you look at anyone the way you look at Rachel, not even me." When Santana tried to argue, Brittany just smiled and linked her pinky with the Latina's. "It's okay. I only ever wanted you to be happy, San. I know I broke your heart, but she healed it again. In fact, she made it stronger. You and Rachel just need to stop acting like those ducklings at the pond who can't find the bread crumbs I throw at them. I enjoyed being a unicorn with you for a little while, San, but you're each other's crabs."

Now Santana was really confused.

"Crabs mate for life, silly."

Ducks, unicorns, crabs. This is why Santana was friends with Brittany.

She hugged her friend tight, and then she turned and went to perform. They blew everyone away of course. As Santana sat in the audience watching Mr. Schue's _horrible_ performance, she tried not to glance at Rachel a few rows ahead and to the left of her.

When he was done, she couldn't help it. She had to speak up. "Seriously? That's what you came up with?"

Mr. Schue looked towards Santana and saw the look on her face. It finally clicked for him. "It was you, wasn't it? You reported me to Principal Figgins."

Everyone turned to stare at Santana, and she shrugged her shoulders. "Of course I did. Do you have any idea what your 'teaching' in Spanish class is doing? You're taking stupid stereotypes and you're making students believe them as well. You also really suck at actually translating and speaking Spanish."

When Mr. Schue went to argue, another voice spoke up. "She's right, Mr. Schue. You're an excellent Glee coach, but you know next to nothing about Spanish. "

Mr. Schue responded, "Rachel?"

"I know how to speak Spanish, which is why I've never said anything in class, since I can still pass, but it is quite detrimental to those others who really do need to learn."

Santana went to smile at Rachel for her support, but the shorter girl still wouldn't look at her. Shaking her head, Santana glanced back at Mr. Schue and said, "Look, I know I'm a bitch, but I'm guessing you originally took the Spanish teacher job because it was the only one open. I just think you need to admit that someone else can do it better like Mr. Martinez. You know, a wise teacher once taught me that without passion, there is no success."

Mr. Schue smiled at Santana with tears in his eyes and said, "You know what? You're right. Thank you, Santana."

As everyone started to file out of the auditorium, Santana ran after Rachel and grabbed her wrist from behind, stopping her from leaving.

"Thanks for standing up for me against Mr. Schue."

Rachel didn't turn; she just nodded her head and said, "You're my friend, Santana. It's what friends do."

"Friends? Is that it? Is that all we are?"

Rachel pulled her wrist from Santana's hand and turned. "Yes, friends. That's all we can be, Santana. Please just let me go."

"Rach—"

Santana never got to finish her sentence as Rachel continued to shake her head furiously and back away from her. "I can't, Santana. I saw you with Brittany before the performance, and I saw the way you hugged one another. I'm…I'm really happy for you, but I'm just too hurt right now to talk to you. Please. I just…I can't."

Rachel ran away before Santana could say anything in response, and all Santana could do was wrap her arms around herself and swear. _Great, just fucking great. Mierda. Now she thinks that I'm back together with Britt. This really couldn't get any fucking worse._ Santana hung her head feeling more defeated than ever, which was something she was definitely not used to. Slowly, she trudged out the door.

Additional note: I am so sorry that I had to end this chapter like this! I promise, the next chapter is what I've been leading up to! I'm hoping to post it by the end of Sunday, but at the latest it will most likely be Wednesday. I know exactly where I want to go, so it shouldn't take me too long to write it. Please bear with me and review!


	10. Just Because

Disclaimer: Thank you, Ryan Murphy, for creating a crazy awesome show like _Glee_, which I sadly do not own nor profit from.

Author's note: Okay, folks, here it is! Chapter 10! I had a lot of fun writing this, and I hope that it's what you've all been waiting for. It is really hot here, so it was nice to go to an air conditioned coffee shop and write this to forget about the outside world. Finally, I am going to try simply putting a couple of spaces in between if there are scene or time changes, so we'll see if that works (since my +++++ didn't show up). On with the show!

Chapter 10: "Just Because"

At the beginning of the next week, Santana was once again walking through the halls of McKinley when something was shoved into her face. It took her a second to understand what she was reading, but once she did she was truly horrified. Glancing up, she realized that it was totally true: it was the week of Valentine's Day, and she had completely forgotten! _Fuck! I really should have called in sick this week._

This was just the beginning of a truly shitty-ass day. Santana spent most of it dodging Brittany (not because she didn't want to see her friend, but because Brittany thought Valentine's Day meant you had to hug everyone in sight. Repeatedly. Santana's ribs still felt bruised from last Valentine's Day). Thankfully, she didn't have to see many Glee members until the afternoon, but she still couldn't help noticing that Finn seemed to be following Rachel around a lot more than normal. Ugh.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Santana was exhausted by the time she reached Glee: she'd been really good, but if one more idiot tried to throw red heart confetti in her face, she's pop a cap in their ass. All of this stress – combined with the passing thought that when they were still together Santana had made a mental note to make this day really special for Rachel – meant that when she walked into the choir room and saw Finn invading Rachel's personal space, she was about ready to snap.

"Hey, Rach."

"Oh, hi, Finn."

"I was just thinking…"

_HA! That's a first_, Santana thought.

"Sugar mentioned that she is throwing that Valentine's Day Party this weekend…"

Rachel was beginning to look uncomfortable. "Yes?"

"We should totally go together."

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why should we go together, Finn? We're friends, and I'm not sure we want to confuse that at all."

"Well, yeah, but we would get back together."

Santana's eyes narrowed instantly, and Rachel's voice rose attracting the other Glee members who were filing in and sitting down.

"I'm sorry, what? Why would we get back together, Finn?"

"Rachel, we're both not dating anyone, and I've decided that you're who I want, so—"

"Oh, you _decided_, did you? Do I have any say in this?" Rachel was getting angrier and angrier, and Finn seemed to be the only one not to notice. Everyone else was shrinking down in their seats trying not to get hit by the fallout. Rachel was about to go supernova.

Finn looked confused, "Yeah, I know that we had our issues, but I know that you've always been in love with me. So why wouldn't we get back together?"

Before Rachel could explode, her attention and everyone else's was diverted by one _very_ pissed off Latina and the mohawked boy who was trying to hold her back.

"_Decidio? Decided?_ You didn't decide shit, _puta_!"

"Santana, calm down."

"Calm down? Calm down? Did you not hear what that fuck-face said to her?"

"Santana, I can fight my own battles—"

"You shouldn't have to fight this battle! You're worth fighting for, and this fucking "mailman" mantra-ing, pre-ejaculating piece of shit can't see that you're worth more than what he can't even _dream_ of having with you!"

"Screw you, Santana. You don't know anything. Rachel and I are meant to be."

"Meant to be? No, Finn, you're not meant to be. She's on her way to Broadway. She's gonna light that place up like a fucking fireworks show on the Fourth of July, and all you want to do is convince her that being the wife of a former quarterback living in Lima, Ohio, is what she should really want."

"How do you know what she really wants, Santana?" Finn glared at the girl, and everyone seemed to be frozen watching the scene unfold, even Rachel.

"I know because she told me! Day after day, on every date and with every song she sang not just for herself but for me, too! I know because Rachel was my girlfriend."

"What? That's ridiculous."

Santana snorted, "What's ridiculous is that I ever let her go."

Santana turned to Rachel, whose jaw dropped.

"I should have fought for you, beautiful. I should have gone after you that day outside my place. Puck and I didn't sleep together. We just got really drunk when I told him that I love you and then he suggested skinny dipping—"

"You what?"

Santana looked confused.

Rachel repeated herself, "What did you just say? Before the skinny dipping part."

Santana smiled when she realized what she had finally said out loud.

"I love you. Puck came over to my house after Brittany told me she was single because I realized that it didn't matter. I am totally and completely in love with you. Stupidly so. That time you saw me in the auditorium with Brittany? She was telling me that you and I are meant for each other. I couldn't agree more."

Rachel was crying and gasped out, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Santana was crying now, too, "Because I was terrified – terrified of opening my heart like that. I was terrified of getting in even deeper and then losing you."

"Say it again. Please."

"I love you. I'll say it as many times as you need me to. I'll shout it at the top of my lungs. I'll tell the entire school—"

Santana was cut off by Rachel's lips, as the smaller girl threw herself into the taller one's arms. In between kisses she said, "I…don't…care…about…anyone…else. I love you too, baby, more than I can ever say."

Rachel and Santana get so lost in one another that they fail to notice that they were most definitely the center of attention in the choir room. Kurt and Blaine were holding hands and smiling, while Kurt whispered, "I knew it!" Puck appeared to be trying not to get turned on. Quinn looked a little shocked but pleased with the course of events. Brittany couldn't stop clapping and jumping up and down, and everyone else seemed pretty shocked but overall accepting. Finn…Finn's reaction became obvious pretty quickly. He grabbed Santana by the shoulders, turned her around, and punched her in the face.

"Finn! Go to the principal's office right now!"

Mr. Schue was absolutely livid. He's always had a soft spot for Finn, but punching anyone, especially a girl, was not something that could be overlooked. No one could believe that Finn had done that, but Santana was on the floor with a split, bleeding lip and Rachel was crouched down next to her. Kurt and Blaine rushed over and handed Puck, who was closer, some paper towels to hopefully stop the bleeding.

"Mr. Schue! That slut turned Rachel into a dyke!"

"Finn, I can't believe you would use a word like that!" Kurt was the one who spoke up. "I thought we covered this after you called me a fag."

"I…Rachel and I were supposed to end up together! Besides, Santana slapped me before."

Rachel spoke almost too softly for anyone but those closest to her to hear, "Finn, I will excuse this incident only because I know you're upset. However, if you do not stop fucking talking right this minute, you will be the one with a split lip, and you'll have a black eye to go with it. We aren't together, and we haven't been for a long time. I love Santana, and she loves me. Accept it and move on. It is never okay for anyone to use violence, and Santana has been working to control her desire to punch people when she's upset. I would recommend that you do the same before you get suspended from school."

Finn had nothing to say to that, and Mr. Schue spoke up once more, "Finn, Rachel seems to think you don't need to have this officially reported. However, I am going to give you detention with Coach Sylvester for a month. I'm also going to suggest that Coach Beiste bench you for at least two games."

When Finn looked like he was going to protest, Santana spoke up from the floor, "Suck it up, Finnept. I had to answer to Coach Sylvester for two months when I slapped you since I'm one of her Cheerios and I got caught in the act. You're getting off easy."

Everything calmed down after that. Finn was sent home for the day while Rachel and Santana sat next to one another holding hands. Neither one of them could stop smiling. Santana didn't even care that her cut lip hurt; she was too happy to give a flying fuck.

The rest of the week was spent in romantic bliss for Santana and Rachel. They spent almost every second of the day together, except for the nights when they had to go home. Even then, when Santana woke up she would call Rachel just to make sure that none of it was a dream. If it had been any other couple, Santana would have been disgusted by the behavior. But she had waited all her life to feel like this so all the haters could go take a short walk off a long cliff.

Before either of them knew it, it was just before Sugar's Valentine's Day party, and Santana was walking up to Rachel's door to pick up her girlfriend for their date. She rang the doorbell, and when Rachel opened the door all the Latina could do was stare. Rachel was in a similar predicament.

Rachel was wearing a short black dress with spaghetti straps. _Short like wow-those-skirts-you-wear-at-school-are-really-kind-of-long short. Damn._ She had finished the outfit off with her hair up in high bun and a pair of cute strappy heels. _Jesus! How can she be so short but have such long, amazing legs?_

Rachel was equally breathless because Santana looked – to quote her – "Damn fine!" Santana was wearing a strapless red dress that hugged her curves in all the right places, her hair fell in soft waves around her face and shoulders, and she had on a pair of black short heeled boots. If she didn't think it would be rude, Rachel would have grabbed her girlfriend and pulled her forcefully into her house – locking the door and locking out the rest of the world.

"You look…fuck, Rach. I would totally take you right now if I didn't think I would get slapped for making us late." Santana was joking (mostly), but her breath got caught in her throat when Rachel pulled her down by the back of her neck for a deep kiss. When she finally let her go, Rachel moved her lips to Santana's ear and whispered, "If you're really good tonight, I might just _let_ you have me. My fathers are gone for the weekend."

For the first time in her life, Santana almost fainted. She groaned and was instantly wetter than she'd ever been. _Well, fuck. Those panties are ruined._

With that, Rachel smirked and sashayed her way to Santana's car, with the other girl following behind her in a haze of sexual desire and longing.

By the time dinner was over, both girls were so horny and on edge that they were about ready to fuck each other in the parking lot. When they were still dating a couple of months ago, things were getting pretty hot and heavy. The time apart had not lessened their desire for one another: it had, in fact, only built up their frustration. Now that they were back together, all they could both think about was touching each other, getting lost in tongues and teeth and sweat. This night? This moment? This is what they were waiting for.

Santana had never driven her car so fast. When Rachel kissed Santana's neck and put her hand on her thigh, she started slowly sliding it up Santana's leg creeping ever closer to the heat between her legs. Santana was just glad that they were lucky enough to avoid cops and that she was still able to hold onto the steering wheel and not veer off the road. It was nothing short of a fucking miracle.

"Baby, if you don't stop that—_Dios mio!_—I'm…I'm gonna crash into a tree, and we aren't even going to make it to your house. I really don't want to try to explain to your dads why we totaled my car and ended up in the hospital."

Rachel chuckled and, after giving one more kiss to Santana's neck, she slowly pulled back her hand making sure to drag her short nails along the inside of Santana's thigh.

Santana exhaled sharply and said, "You're gonna be the death of me, babygirl."

Rachel nodded, "Mmmm, but what a way to go."

They made it back to Rachel's in record time, and Santana shut off the engine and pulled Rachel from the car so fast she almost gave the other girl whiplash.

"Slow down, Tana. We have all night. In fact, we have all weekend."

"I know. I've just been waiting for this for a long time. Waiting for you."

"I know. Me too, love. Me too."

Rachel unlocked the door and the moment it closed behind them Santana had her up against it.

Santana captured Rachel's lips in a fierce kiss that had both girls completely breathless. When she came up for air, Santana started to kiss down Rachel's neck. Once her lips latched onto Rachel's pulse point, the shorter girl moaned very loudly, and all Santana could do was smirk and suck harder. Rachel was definitely going to have a hickey for the next couple of days. _She's gonna kill me, but damn I really enjoy marking her like that._

As Santana ran her tongue along Rachel's neck, the Diva ran her hands, which were in Santana's hair, down her back, and it was Santana's turn to moan as Rachel dug her nails into her back. Santana reached back and grabbed Rachel's hands pulling them together so they were in one of her hands and held them against the door. "Uh-uh, I'm having too much fun with your neck. No distracting me."

Rachel smirked, "But Tana, what if I want to have fun, too?"

"Well, you'll just have to wait, _chica sucia_."

Rachel laughed and tried to free her hands, but all that achieved was both of their dresses riding up their thighs as they struggled with one another. When Rachel stopped fighting her, Santana was sure that she had won. That is until Rachel raised her right leg up straight into Santana's spread legs. Santana moaned and dropped the other girl's hands instantly as she grabbed onto Rachel's hips and tried to control herself.

"You did say I was the 'dirty girl.' I just thought I should follow that up with something. What'd you think, too much?" Santana could hear Rachel's laughter in her voice.

"Rach, if you do that again, I'm not gonna make it upstairs to your bedroom. I'm not gonna make it past this door."

"What, this?" With that, Rachel attempted to lift her leg once more. However, Santana had enough warning, and before Rachel knew what was happening, she was lifted off her feet and Santana was carrying her over her shoulder.

"Santana! Put me down this instant!"

"Ooh, you're so terrifying with your short little legs kicking out like that."

"Santana, if you do not put me down this instant, you are sleeping on the couch!"

The next instant, Rachel was standing on her own two feet, and Santana was looking only slightly contrite.

"I did tell you what would happen if you tried that again, Rach."

Rachel stepped closer and looked up at Santana through her eyelashes, "What makes you think I didn't want that to happen?"

When Santana looked confused and a little aroused, Rachel leaned even closer and whispered, "I would love nothing more than to see you come undone because of me, Tana. So…Santana, don't you think it's about time we go upstairs and finally make love to one another like we've been dying to since the minute we first kissed?"

Santana swallowed deeply and followed as Rachel led her by the hand upstairs. Once they made it inside Rachel's bedroom, the little Diva seemed to finally realize the magnitude of what they were planning on doing and started to fiddle with things around the room to try to hold off her nerves. Santana thought it was adorable, but she also knew that she had to take over from here.

"Rachel, can you look at me, please?" Rachel looked Santana directly in the eyes.

"Are you sure you are ready for this?"

The simple fact that Santana had thought to check in one more time seemed to give Rachel the confidence she needed. She nodded assuredly and reached for Santana's hand.

Santana took Rachel's fingers and kissed the tip of each one. When she got to her pointer finger, Santana put the entire finger into her mouth running her tongue all around it. Rachel moaned and closed her eyes in pleasure. Santana pulled the finger from her mouth and pulled Rachel closer to her as she sat on the bed.

"_Horcajadas__mí._"

Rachel nodded and did exactly that: she straddled Santana's legs. Santana brought her hands up and slowly began to take out the pins that were holding up Rachel's hair. Once they were all gone, Rachel's hair fell around them cocooning them in a private world of their own making. They kissed passionately. As Rachel ran her tongue along Santana's lips, the other girl slid her hands along Rachel's thighs. When she straddled her, Rachel's dress had slid even higher, so Santana was treated to the glorious skin of almost all of Rachel's legs.

"Fuck, you have amazing legs, Rach."

Rachel moaned at the sensation of Santana's hands tracing patterns higher and higher on her thighs. "Mmmm, I love when you touch me like that. Your hands feel fantastic, baby."

Encouraged by Rachel's words, Santana slid her hands even further, and was greeted by the hottest thing ever: Rachel was wearing a thong. A lacy, delicate thong that was just begging to be ripped off. She dug her fingers deeply into Rachel's ass and Rachel moaned louder, grabbed Santana's head, and pulled her lips back to kiss her once more. She pulled back and said, "Santana, there's foreplay and then there's teasing. We're crossing that line right now."

Santana chuckled, "I just want to make sure you're nice and ready for me, baby."

Arching her brow, Rachel grabbed one of Santana's hands off her ass and moved it around between her legs. Santana moaned at the sudden movement, and Rachel groaned at the feel of Santana's hand on her.

"Fuck, babe, you're dripping."

"I am _definitely_ ready for you, Tana."

That was all Santana needed to hear. She wanted to make this special for Rachel, but it was a little hard to go slow when the girl in question was making her feel how incredibly wet and willing she was. Santana flipped them over so Rachel was lying down on the bed with Santana between her legs. She had Rachel sit up and slipped off her black dress, at which point she also took her own red dress off as well. Their underwear was the next to go; with neither one really paying attention to the silk nor lace that each of them was wearing. All they really wanted in that moment was one another. Santana propped herself over her shorter girlfriend and looked deep into Rachel's eyes. She watched the Diva's face as she slipped her hand downward and traced her fingers towards her pussy. Rachel tried to keep her eyes open, but as Santana's fingers rubbed over her clit, she couldn't help but arch into the other girl and moan deeply. However, she opened them once more when Santana stopped the movement of her hand right at her entrance.

"I want you to look at me when I take your virginity. I want you to know that you're loved and that the look in your eyes right now is the fucking hottest thing I have ever seen." It was such a Santana thing to say – the perfect combination of sweet and dirty. Nevertheless, Rachel was too distracted (which was the plan all along) to realize that Santana had thrust into her, breaking her barrier in one swift move. Rachel gasped and Santana held completely still. "Shhh, you're okay, _hermosa_. I won't move until you tell me you're ready."

Rachel had never felt more in love than in that moment. Yes, she was in pain, but Santana was right there with her – kissing her forehead, her eyelids, and her lips with the gentlest of touches. After a minute she nodded her head and Santana started to move her hand. It was like nothing Rachel had ever felt, and all she could do was grip onto Santana's shoulders and try not to be swept away by the sensations. After a while, even that became impossible.

"Oh, God, Tana. So good."

"You like that, baby?"

"So much. Please."

"Please what?" Santana smirked. Even in bed she couldn't stop being at least a little bit of a bitch.

"Please, I need more."

"More of this?" With that, Santana added a third finger, and Rachel had to grab onto the pillow under her head for support.

"Fuck! Harder."

That definitely made Santana smile, and she decided to give Rachel exactly what she asked for. She gripped behind Rachel's back and told her to wrap her legs around her waist. Rachel looked a little confused, but she did as Santana said and Santana sat up taking Rachel with her. This changed the angle of her fingers within Rachel and caused the other girl to shout, "Santana!"

"Mmmm, that's it, baby."

Rachel gripped onto Santana's shoulders once more and they moved together with Santana thrusting into Rachel fast and hard, hitting her g-spot every time. Her body started to tremble, and Santana could feel Rachel's internal walls begin to clamp down on her fingers.

"Come on, _hermosa_, that's right. Come for me. Fucking come for me, Rachel."

With those words and a swipe of her thumb across Rachel's clit, Rachel looked deep into Santana's eyes and came.

"Fuck, Santana!"

It was the strongest orgasm Rachel had ever had, and it was the sexiest thing Santana had ever seen. In fact, her reaction was so strong that Santana was surprised that she didn't come as well simply from watching Rachel.

As Rachel came down from her climax, Santana held her up and slowly lowered her down to lay flat on the bed. When Rachel finally opened her eyes, she couldn't seem to stop smiling, and neither could Santana.

"That…I don't have words for how amazing that was, Tana."

"Those are pretty good words."

"Well, still. I think you need a little something more to understand how much I loved that." That was all the warning Santana had before Rachel flipped her over and started to kiss down her neck.

Santana laughed, "Aren't you tired? This is not a very good sign if you recovered this quickly from this supposedly 'amazing' orgasm."

"Or it bodes really well since it means that I apparently have great recovery time. Just think: endless energy for hours of fun in the bedroom."

"Or the living room, or the kitchen, or the janitor's closet—"

Santana was cut off by her own moan as Rachel did something that she was sure would take her a while to work up to: she ran her tongue along Santana's clit.

"Jesus, Rach, warn a girl."

"Where would the fun be in that?" Rachel smirked and went back to exploring this new part of Santana's body.

"Mmm, you taste amazing, Tana. I could lick you for hours."

"Oh, babe, you won't need hours. I'm so close already from making you come. I'm about ready to pop."  
With that in mind, Rachel switched up the speed of her tongue. She added a little more pressure and speed, and she moved her tongue from the left to right quickly until Santana was gripping the back of her neck and moaning almost constantly.

"Fuck, _por favor, hermosa_. I…I just need a little more. I…I need…_tan cerca_."

Santana was about to tell Rachel once more that she just needed a little more of _something_ when she gasped and arched her back off the bed.

"_Dios mío_! Fuck yes! Just like that, Rachel."

Rachel had slid her hand up and thrust two fingers deep into Santana. She moved her fingers in and out of her girlfriend until she found her g-spot. (Rachel may have done some research on the subject of lesbian sex in preparation for this night. God bless Google.) She went back to swiping her tongue back and forth and rubbed just hard enough inside Santana tandem with her tongue outside that the other girl came undone almost instantly.

"Rachel!"

Rachel pulled back and slid back up the bed. When Santana was aware enough, she shook her head and said, "I should have known you would fucking _excel _at sex along with everything else you put your mind to."

Rachel chuckled, "Or tongue to as ever the case may be."

Santana just laughed out loud at the silliness of the statement, at the perfectness of this moment, at all of it, and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend.

"I fucking love you, Rachel Barbra Berry. I don't know why sometimes, but I really do."

"Well, I fucking love you too, Santana Marie Lopez. Do you want to know why?"

"Why?"

"Just because."

Additional note: Finally! It took me some time to write this, but only because I wanted to make sure it was as awesome a scene as I envisioned it in my mind. I hope you all thought the wait was worth it and that it was as satisfying for you as it was for me. Please review!


	11. This Morning

Disclaimer: _Glee_ is not at all owned by me. Sad days.

Author's note: I am incredibly sorry that this chapter took two weeks to get out! Postings might be a little odd for the next 5-6 weeks since my wedding is in early September, but I will do what I can to try to make them as regular as possible, which will hopefully at least once a week. Oh, and we're two reviews away from 100, so please review and thank you to everyone who has already and continues to do so!

Chapter 11: "This Morning"

Santana woke up feeling extremely sore but completely sated. It took her a minute to remember why her body was so achy, but when she did she couldn't stop the smug grin on her face. Turning over, she fully expected to find Rachel out of bed and doing her morning exercise routine since her girl just could not take a day off most days. Almost immediately, Santana realized that she was wrong: there, sprawled out across the bed on her stomach, was her girlfriend. She was hugging her pillow under her head, and she was _definitely_ dead to the world.

Santana grinned and jumped out of bed (well, she stumbled out of bed, because _damn_ the sex last night wore her out!) and went to the bathroom. As she crawled back into bed, she glanced at the clock and her constant grin got even wider. It was 10:00 a.m., and Rachel Barbra I-Can't-Sleep-Past-The-Sun-Coming-Up-AKA-Balls-Ass-Early Berry was still in bed! Score one for Santana in the sexing her girlfriend into a coma department. Santana decided that she didn't want to wake Rachel and that more sleep was totally fine with her. she got back into bed, threw her arm over her Diva, and drifted off to dreamland once more while the smell of sex and the unique scent that was Rachel wrapped around her.

A while later, both girls were woken abruptly by _Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again_ blaring out of Rachel's phone.

Rachel was the first one to wake this time. Santana grunted as Rachel leaned over and grabbed her cell phone thereby effectively lying on top of the Latina (not that she minded at all since they were both naked).

In a hoarse voice, Rachel mumbled out, "What is it, Kurt?"

"Rachel? Were you still asleep? Since they were so close together, Santana could hear what Kurt was saying through the phone as well, and she smirked at the boy's confusion.

"Yes, of course I was. Why is that such a shock?"

"I just figured you would be up hours ago to do your morning exercise."

"I don't get up at dawn on Saturdays, Kurt. Why are you calling?"

"Well, I thought you might like to come meet me and Blaine at the coffee shop around noon. Do you think you could call Santana and ask her as well?

"Kurt, I do appreciate the offer, but was it necessary to call me this early when you are asking to meet around lunchtime?"

"Early? Hun, it's 11:30 a.m."

Rachel shot straight up in bed and almost screeched when she shouted, "11:30?"

Santana covered her ears, grabbed Rachel around the waist and pushed her back onto the bed. She grabbed the phone from the shocked girl and told Kurt, "We'll be there, but it might be a little later than noon."

"Santana? What are you doing in Rachel's house when she's sleep—oh."

Santana smirked at the mortified tone of Kurt's voice and hung up the phone to pay attention to more important things…like her very naked girlfriend.

"Santana, how could you possibly let me sleep this late? I need to do my morning exercises!"

"First of all, I did not _let_ you do anything. Your body decided to sleep in. Secondly, I think we got plenty of exercise in last night and early this morning." Santana kissed along Rachel's jaw, and the other girl moaned and wrapped her arms around Santana's neck.

"Tana, we can't. We have to go meet Kurt and Blaine."

"They'll understand. I'm sure they've gotten sexed up before. Now shut up, I wants to get my mack on."

Rachel laughed, "Santana Marie Lopez, don't tell me to shut up."

"Fine, then I'll just have to keep your mouth busy."

"Oh, really? And how, pray tell, are you going to do that?"

Santana smirked, "Let me show you, _hermosa_."

Rachel managed to pull away before their kissing could get too heated. "Oh, no. I know what a smooth operator you are, Tana. Come on, we have to get up and get out of bed. We both need to shower before we leave, because while I love the smell of sex and you on my skin, I'm not sure the rest of the world would appreciate it quite as much."

"Says you. Two hot _chicas_ like us getting it on? We're most men's fantasy come to life."

"Yes, well, I doubt that's true for Kurt and Blaine, and I would rather we were each other's fantasy, not anyone else's."

Rachel headed towards the bathroom and was pleasantly surprised when Santana joined her after only a few minutes.

"What are you doing in here?"

"Conserving water, of course. It's good for the environment and all that shit. Plus, you totally can't reach your back all by yourself, what with your short arms and all."

Rachel shook her head, but as her girlfriend's arms wrapped around her from behind and Santana started kissing her neck where it joined with her shoulder, Rachel found she really couldn't put up any resistance. Santana made her feel beautiful and sexy and really fucking horny, so why should she try to stop her advances?

As Rachel moaned and arched her neck back, Santana pressed her into the wall of the shower. The tile was cold on Rachel's nipples and shorter girl moaned even louder as she felt Santana press her entire body along her back.

"Do you know what you did to me this morning when you reached for your phone, Rach? Your nipples ran along my back, and all I wanted to do was roll over and take one into my mouth. Fuck, the noises you make when I run my tongue along them and then bite down? God, you make me so fucking wet when you moan, babe. Like the noises you're making right now? Are your nipples aching? Do you want me to warm them with my tongue? Is that what you want, Rach?"

Rachel nodded her head jerkily and continued to moan, thrusting her ass back into Santana's pelvis.

"What was that, babe? I didn't quite hear you."

Rachel groaned and said, "Fuck, Tana, please. I need you."

"Need me to do what? Use your words, Rachel."

"I need you to suck my nipples. _Please_."

"Well, when you say it so nicely…"

With that, Santana spun Rachel around and pushed her back against the wall. She trailed her tongue down Rachel's throat and latched onto Rachel's nipple. She circled it with her tongue and flicked it back and forth until the other girl was writhing against her and gripping the back of her head tightly.

"Tana. Bite me. Mark me."

Santana could only moan and do just that. She grazed her teeth over Rachel's nipple, and then bit down hard at the same time that she thrust her two of her fingers up and into Rachel's wetness. Rachel arched back and almost cracked her head into the wall of the shower, but neither girl seemed to notice.

"Jesus Christ, baby! God, so good. So deep. Fuck."

Santana pulled her mouth back and leaned up to kiss Rachel.

"Wrap your legs around me, baby girl. Let me take you for the ride of your life."

Rachel did just that. Santana gripped her ass tightly with one hand, used the wall for support, and started to fuck Rachel with everything she had.

"Goddamn, you are so fucking amazing, baby girl. I love to make you come undone, to feel how wet I make you, to watch your eyes roll back in your head. Do you feel how deep I am inside you? I can feel you shaking, Rach. Fuck, it makes me so fucking wet to realize that I'm the only one to do this to you. To make you fucking lose control."

Rachel opened her eyes and looked deep into Santana's eyes. "Tana?"

"Yeah, _hermosa?_"

"I…love when you talk…dirty to me…but I want…you…mmmm….to shut up and…come with me."

Rachel then completely surprised Santana and slid her hand down between their bodies. She rubbed her fingers furiously over Santana's clit.

Santana moaned loudly and came faster than she would have ever expected while Rachel's entire body shook. She bit down hard on Santana's shoulder as she shattered. The bite caused another – slightly less powerful but still strong – orgasm to roll through Santana's body, and Santana savored it as she kissed Rachel softly and helped the smaller girl come down from her own sexual peak. As Rachel took a deep breath and finally pulled away, Santana helped her lower her legs to the shower floor and they both chuckled.

Santana spoke first, "Well, I think we _definitely_ got our workout in for the day."

Rachel just shook her head, and they finished their shower. Santana was in the bedroom getting dressed when she heard Rachel shout.

"Santana!"

Santana rushed into the bathroom in her jeans and a bra and immediately burst out laughing at what Rachel was pointing at. She had a _very _obvious hickey on her pulse point from last night (probably the one Santana had given her downstairs), and the Diva was definitely not pleased.

"Really, Tana? Was it really necessary to leave one that is almost impossible to cover up?"

"I didn't hear you complaining last night, baby girl."

Rachel huffed but conceded the point.

"Well, I suppose it's only fair since I got you back as well."

Santana turned to look in the mirror and, sure enough, there was the bite mark on her shoulder that Rachel made when she came in the shower.

Santana shrugged and said, "Yeah, I kinda like knowing you couldn't control yourself."

Rachel looked a little uncomfortable and Santana wrapped her arms around her waist and rested her chin on Rachel's shoulder, "I know that you want to save that part of yourself for private, and you know I'm not really wild about parading around my personal life, so if it makes you feel better we'll make a pact."

At Rachel's questioning look in the mirror, Santana continued, "No hickeys in visible places for clothes we wear in public from now on, okay? That way we won't have to worry about trying to cover them up for performances or anything either."

"Are you sure you'd be okay with that? I don't want you to think I'm ashamed of people knowing we have sex, Tana."

Santana kissed her cheek and squeezed her tighter once, then released her.

"I know, Rach. I'm not either. Some things should just be private if we can keep them that way. Plus this way we can find much more interesting places to leave hickeys." Santana raised her eyebrows a few times and smirked, and Rachel poked her in the stomach and laughed.

Then ended up finally making it to the Lima Bean by 12:30 p.m. and that was only by sheer will on Santana's part. Rachel had decided to reward Santana for her understanding about the hickeys by demonstrating a few of the places they _could_ leave them. Pulling Rachel up after she left a hickey at the top of her inner thigh was one of the hardest things Santana had ever had to do. However, they did have all weekend, and Kurt would never let them live it down if they stood him up.

After they grabbed their drinks, the girls spotted Kurt and Blaine sitting in the comfy chairs in their usual corner. Kurt looked a little annoyed and was just reaching for his phone when Santana's voice stopped him.

"You don't have to try to call again, Kurt. We got the other billion messages and we're here now, so chill."

Kurt jumped up and started in almost immediately, "Santana Lopez, if making Rachel late is how you're going to influence her I—Rachel, is that a hickey?"

Blushing furiously, Rachel sat down in her chair. Blaine was smiling fondly at the two of them, and Santana just sat back to enjoy the show. Rachel saw that her girlfriend was going to let her fend for herself on this one, and Santana could tell that there would be retribution later. Oh, well, for now it was fun to watch Rachel scramble for words.

"Well, I wouldn't say that it _wasn't_ a hickey—"

"Double-negative, _querida_," Santana sing-songed in a low voice.

"Tana, you're not helping."

"I'm just saying. You're always saying it's very important to make sure that everything is grammatically correct."

"If you don't stop being an ass on purpose, I'll show you how grammatically correct I can be when I tell you you're sleeping on the couch tonight, _sweetums_."

"'Sweetums'? Really?"

Rachel smirked.

"You started it."

Turning back to their friends, Rachel noticed Kurt and Blaine's shared looks of humor at their expense.

Rachel straightened her shoulders and decided to be direct (these were their friends after all).

"In answer to your question, Kurt, yes, this is a hickey. Sometimes those happen in the heat of the moment as I'm sure you know since you have one as well."

Kurt glanced down quickly, and when he realized there was nothing there, he looked up sheepishly and laughed along with the others at Rachel's joke.

"I suppose I deserved that. Well, anyway, how is it being back together? Did you two have a good Valentine's Day?"

"It was awesome. How about you? You boys get to have any 'fun' at all?"

Blaine blushed and Kurt looked down into his cup, and Santana raised a hand in high-five to Blaine, "Way to go, Warbler!"

"Santana, leave them alone."

"What, I can't be happy that my friends were having as much fun as we were? Well, maybe not _as_ much fun…"

The joking and teasing went back and forth as the friends talked about their nights. Rachel noticed that Kurt turned down about five phone calls throughout the conversation, and he looked stressed enough about it that she decided she would ask him about it later.

The four of them spent almost the entire rest of the day at the coffee shop laughing and talking about what they were looking forward to about Regionals. When Sebastian showed up again, they did their best to ignore him, and Blaine got in a good jab when he asked Sebastian if the reason he was such a bastard was because he wasn't getting any. Santana had never been more proud of him, and Blaine simply maintained that it was because he spent too much time around the Latina. Santana saw no problem with that. Sebastian was an ass, and Blaine had been the most hurt by him, especially physically.

That night, Santana and Rachel lay in bed and watched _The Philadelphia Story_. Apparently, Santana was a closeted classic movie fan. Since many classic musicals were in the form of classic films, the girls agreed to switch off between musical and non-musical black and white films. Santana was lying on her back, and Rachel had her head resting on her chest as she traced patterns with her fingers over Santana's stomach. Both girls were completely naked, and they were splayed out in a post-orgasmic stupor. Rachel couldn't help giggling as Santana quoted the lines, and the two simply enjoyed being together.

"Tana?"

"'C.K. Dexter Haven, you show unexpected depth!' Hmmm? What's up, baby girl?"

"Were you serious about wanting to go to Julliard? To sing?"

Santana glanced down at Rachel and stroked her hand through her girlfriend's hair, "Yeah, I definitely was. I mean, my grades are decent, and I know I can get good recs from Ms. Corcoran (Rachel stiffened a little) and Mr. Schue. Why?"

"I just wanted to know if you'd applied or anything. I've been working on my NYADA audition all year, and my applications went in awhile ago. I just wanted to see if you'd thought about it."

"Way ahead of you, Rach. I applied two months ago. I also applied to a lot of other schools in New York and on the East Coast."

Rachel glanced up at her and looked really surprised, "Two months ago? But we were still together then. Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was going to be a surprise. Then when we broke up, I just didn't think you'd want to hear it. Plus I won't hear anything for another month or two. So I didn't want to get either of our hopes up, you know? Plus I don't know if you've noticed, but you're really fucking distracting, _hermosa_, and I haven't really been able to think past being in love with you this week."

Rachel smiled and leaned up to thoroughly kiss Santana. She pulled back and smiled. "Well, I applied to a number of schools with strong musical theater programs in the New York area. So we can nervously wait together, okay?"

Santana nodded and leaned close, pulling Rachel in for another kiss. When she pulled back, with love in her eyes, she whispered, "I love you, Rachel."

"I love you, Santana."

"Now can we rewind the movie? I love this part and your yapping made us miss the entire thing."

Rachel smacked Santana's stomach, and their cuddling turned into a tickling wrestle match. Neither one cared who won (though if you asked Santana would say she won, and Rachel would just roll her eyes as she rewound the DVD).

On Monday morning, Rachel and Santana walked into school hand-in-hand. They had never been happier, and they couldn't help touching one another in some small way. They were so lost in their world in fact that when Kurt came up to them, he had to call each of their names three times before they answered.

"What?" Santana snapped, not really irritated, just distracted.

"Jeez, if I have to pry you two apart with a crowbar all the time, this is going to get really old really fast."

Blaine just chuckled and said, "Come on, Kurt, they're cute!"

"I am hot, not cute, thank you very much," Santana said. "However, she's cute," Santana pointed to Rachel, "So you can call her that."

"Ha, ha. Thanks. Did you want something specific, Kurt?" Rachel asked.

"Well, I just wanted to get your advice on something. I told Blaine and he isn't mad at me. We're just trying to figure out what to do about it."

Kurt explained that on Friday at the Valentine's Day party, he'd found out that Dave Karofsky was the one who had been sending Kurt love notes, and that he had admitted to being in love with Kurt. Kurt turned him down as politely as possible, though some stupid jocks from his school made him run out of there in fear before they could talk further. Kurt spent the weekend ignoring multiple phone calls from Karofsky until he had finally gotten the courage to tell Blaine about it. Now, the calls were coming every five minutes or so and Kurt didn't know what to do.

"Well, Karofsky is way in the closet. I think you need to talk to him." This came from Santana.

At Kurt's look of surprise, Santana went on, "I've been where he is mentally and it is not a pretty place. You want to be who you are, but you don't want to get hurt. Then you tell someone you like them and they don't like you back? That is the worst. It makes you feel completely helpless and alone. Talk to him. Let him know you're there for him even if you can't be there romantically. I'll speak to him too if you want. We did 'date' for a little while after all."

"Thanks, Santana. I really needed to hear that. I'll go give him a call back now and see if we can meet for coffee or something after school. I'll ask if it's okay if Blaine and you two join, but if not I'll go myself and start the conversation." Kurt went off to make the call and Blaine thanked Santana.

"He's been really nervous about what to do since he was so terrified of Karofsky for so long."

"Yeah, I get that. I'm glad he wants to try to help him still, though. We all know it's hard taking those first steps out of the closet."

Santana smiled as Rachel took her hand, "I'm proud of you, Tana. That was really sweet."

"Well, what can I say? I'm only this sweet around you, baby girl."

Blaine was smiling with the girls when Kurt joined them once more. Glancing up, they all realized immediately that something was wrong.

"Kurt? What's wrong?"

Kurt was shaking, "I called. His dad picked up."

Rachel reached out and took Kurt's hand, "What did he say, Kurt?"

"Karofsky tried to commit suicide this morning."

Additional note: Hey, all. I'm sorry to end on such a sad note. During the show, I had to leave the room for that beginning scene where Karofsky's father found him. The next chapter will probably have some upsetting scenes, but it is vital to tell this side of the story of GLBT youth. I hope you stick with me and keep all those who feel there is no other way out in your thoughts and in your hearts. Please review, and I will try to get the next chapter out within the week.


	12. The Boy with the Second Chance

Disclaimer: Want to hear something totally shocking?! I don't own anything of or profit from any part of _Glee_. That's all Ryan Murphy and his merry band of henchmen as well as Fox.

Author's Note: I know, I know. I am terrible at updating. However, I am currently working with two Mothers of the Bride and 11 days until my wedding, so please bear with me. I also really was both looking forward to and dreading writing this chapter.

WARNING: There are mentions of attempted teen suicide (obviously) on more than one occasion in this chapter. If this is a trigger for you, please be aware. I tried to handle it with as much care as possible.

I hope that this lives up to your expectations and remember: if you know anyone who is struggling with their identity in this way, please just reach out and let them know it is okay to be who they are. Please review. You inspire and encourage me all.

Chapter 12: "The Boy with the Second Chance"

Santana hated hospitals. In fact, to use a Rachel word, she _loathed_ them. She'd disliked them before her potential cancer scare, but ever since then she absolutely despised them. I mean, sure, her tits looked even more awesome now, but the fact that she had to fear that she was going to die for all of ten seconds to get them? So not worth it.

All of this ran through her head as she walked through the halls of the hospital, Rachel's hand was holding hers in a death grip. Did it hurt? Yes. Was she going to tell her girlfriend to let go? Not on her life. As much as Rachel needed to hold onto her, Santana needed that right back, and they both knew it without needing it to be said.

Kurt and Blaine were walking silently beside them. All four of them hadn't said a word since they had called their parents and asked for permission to leave school early to go visit Karofsky in the hospital. They'd been released without question and now as they approached the desk, no one really knew what to say.

"May I help you?"

Rachel glanced at the others and realized she was going to have to be the one to speak up.

"Yes, please. We would like to see David Karofsky."

"Are you family?"

"Well, no, but we are some of his classmates and—"

"I'm sorry, only family members are allowed inside."

At that moment, Karofsky's father turned and stepped out of a room down the hall and saw the four of them.

"Nurse, is there a problem here?"

"No, Mr. Karofsky, I was just explaining to these kids that only family was allowed—"

"There must be some mistake. These kids are my son's cousins. Can't you tell? They have my permission to see my son, and I will be responsible for them."

The nurse nodded and the four of them slipped past. As Kurt slid by, Mr. Karofsky placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered, "Thank you, son."

He just nodded shakily and they made their way to the room at the end of the hall.

Rachel knocked. When they heard Karofsky say, "Yeah?", they went inside. He was lying down in bed and his throat looked like it had seen better days. When he saw all four of them, he looked like he was going to throw up. He sat up straighter and got out, "Come to finish the job?"

Kurt looked stricken and Blaine held his hand tightly, while Santana was ready to hold Rachel if she looked like she was going to cry. She was really tempted to snap at the teen. However, Rachel walked right up to his bed and shocked them all.

"David, I understand that you are hurting physically and emotionally right now, but we are three people who understand what you're going through more than anyone else right now in Lima, Ohio. So you better start treating us with some respect. We will not be stepped on out of some misguided attempt to stop hating yourself. You are a beautiful, wonderful person inside and out. Just because you like men and other people may hate you for that does not mean that you need to hate yourself. You are not alone. You have your father and you have us. You. Are. Not. Alone."

Karofsky looked like he was going to start crying and he was shaking his head furiously. Realizing that the intensity in the room was a little too much too fast, Rachel glanced around and said, "Kurt, you really should talk to them about getting this room glitzed up a little. It's so drab."

At Karofsky's slightly intrigued look, which he quickly shifted to horrified, Santana added "Nah, you gotta add some school colors. Get some red going on in here. Maybe cover the walls in some Victoria's Secret posters."

Rachel rolled her eyes, "We're trying to decorate for David, Tana, not _you_."

Kurt laughed, "Oh, please, to decorate for Santana's room, you'd have to add about a billion cutesy pictures of Rachel…"

Blaine added, "I think you're forgetting that at least half of those photos would have to be sexual or dirty in some way…"

Rachel lunged for Santana as the Latina raced around the hospital room trying to get away from her seething girlfriend, "_Santana!"_

"_Hermosa_, they're kidding! You know they are! I would never!" When her shorter girlfriend actually seemed to be calming down, Santana added, "Actually put those pictures up for others to _see_._" _At Rachel's scandalized face, Santana laughed heartily and caught Rachel around the waist and wrapped her up in her arms. She kissed the top of her head and tucked her under her chin, holding her close as they turned back to Karofsky.

Dave – it felt more comfortable to call him that in their minds now – was looking at them all like they were crazy, but he seemed to have the beginnings of a smile on his face. (Something to note though: only Rachel would ever call him David, just as she was the only one to ever called Puck "Noah".)

"What's going on with all of you? 'Cause I kinda feel like I walked into the twilight zone, or I really did die or something."

That sobered everyone up a little, but Kurt decided to explain.

"So let's see, since you've been gone from McKinley: Rachel slapped Finn after Nationals last year – offstage, thank God – after he kissed her onstage and made us lose. Then she got together with Rachel over the summer in some sort of lesbian way that I don't really want to think about. They both came out together after Finn tried – yet again, the doofus – to get back together with Rachel, and it was all really rather romantic. Santana admitted her undying love for Rachel, and I know they had hot sex of some kind that night, because, come on, who wouldn't give it up for that kind of romantic declaration—"

Blaine had been nodding along in agreement with a smirk on his face to his boyfriend's retelling of the tale. Rachel was shaking her head in resignation, and by the end Santana was smiling in full-on pride at the statement of her sexual prowess. Dave just looked really confused.

Finally, when it looked like Rachel was going to blow a gasket at Kurt's version of their love lives, Santana took over.

"Thanks for that, um, colorful version of the story, Kurt. I'm sure I could have provided some really great descriptions of that hot sex, but I think I'll stop you before Rach here kills us all. Dave, the main point of all of us showing up here is that we want to try to be your friends. I know Kurt here wants to meet with you alone after this to talk with you one-on-one about your more personal stuff, and we all get that, we do, but suicide? Suicide is never the answer. Kurt shouldn't have ignored your calls, but he didn't know you were calling about something bigger. There should always be a backup system in place in case something like what happened with that football jackass happens and you need to talk, you know?"

Dave nodded, but remained silent. Blaine took over.

"Dave, your father talked to us on the phone and he's going to make sure you talk to a therapist about this, obviously, but we also reassured him that we would be there to talk to you about this as well. We've gone through this kind of thing as well as you know," Dave flinched and Kurt looked a little hurt, but Blaine went on. "And we've gotten through it together. You can too one day at a time."

"We also think that, once you're healthy," Rachel continued, "You should transfer back to McKinley. We know that it is the middle of your senior year, but you're pretty caught up in your classes from what your dad says, and you know McKinley really well, and we can help you with the rest. We've also spoken to Mr. Schue and you are welcome to join Glee, even if it is just to sit and watch and see what it is like to be a part of the group on a daily basis, okay?"

Again, Dave nodded. He was too choked up to find his voice.

Santana nodded and took Rachel's hand.

"All right. Rach and I are going to check out for now and let you and Kurt and Blaine chat, okay? Then you can get some rest. We'll drop by tomorrow to check in."

"Rest up, David, and I'll make sure to bring in some Barbra for you to listen to tomorrow."

Santana rolled her eyes, but Dave smiled, and as they turned to leave he called out. They turned back and he whispered, "Thanks. For everything. I don't deserve it."

Rachel smiled and said, "You do deserve it, David. We just have to help you realize that."

With that, Rachel and Santana closed the hospital door to the sight of Kurt and Blaine pulling their chairs closer to Dave's bedside. Dave's face looked like he was facing a firing squad, and Santana couldn't blame him. She'd pay good money to be a fly on the wall for that convo, but she'd pay twice as much to _not_ be on Dave's end.

* * *

Santana could tell that Rachel was trying to put on a good front, but the fact was that the day was taking its toll on both of them. To try to give them a pick-me-up, she had them stop by the Lima Bean on their way back to Rachel's house to get some caffeine. Santana put the car in park and Rachel made to get out of the car. Santana grabbed her hand and pulled her back in. Rachel was surprised by a sweet kiss on the lips and Santana's thumb running across the back of her hand.

"Thanks, _hermosa_. I needed that."

Rachel smile was a little subdued, but she said, "You're welcome."

"All right, enough of this mushy crap. I wants my caffeine, bitches!"

"You know, technically, there are only two of us in the car. So you're calling yourself a bitch, baby."

"Rachel, I carry razorblades in my hair. I've been a self-proclaimed bitch for years."

"Tana, seeing as I have run my hands through your hair numerous times and never once gotten so much as a papercut, I know for a fact that the razorblade rumor is just that, a rumor. I'll admit, your personality is initially a little…rough around the edges, but I do have a thing for girls who are rough…"

Santana laughed and opened the door for Rachel. She followed the shorter singer inside while just barely resisting the urge to smack her delectable ass. She really loved her girlfriend's short skirts. Though she also wore a tight pair of jeans really well…

They turned to leave and their bad day got drastically worse. There, right behind them, was Sebastian.

"What the fuck do you want, _puta_?"

"Sebastian, this is really not the day for this."

"I simply wanted to ask how Dave Karofsky is."

Santana sneered, "Like you actually care."

Sebastian started to say something and then continued, "I do care, Santana. Whether or not you believe me, I would never wish the torment he is going through on anyone. He asked me for some advice the other day and I—"

"Oh, I get it. You're feeling really fucking guilty so you're trying to fix it all by saying sorry and checking on him, is that it? Well, it doesn't work like that, dipshit. It's not that easy!"

"Santana!" Rachel looks really shocked and very worried.

"You think you can just say you're sorry, and it makes the insults and the hurt and the pain you caused disappear? You think it makes the years before go away? You think everyone just forgets? You think he can ever just _forget?!_ _No__se olvide__intimidación!_"

Santana was full-on shouting now, and she shoved Sebastian across the coffee shop. It was a very good thing Rachel had their hot drinks in her hands. Loudly, she called out to Santana, "Santana Marie Lopez!"

The other girl froze.

"Outside now, please, before the cops are called on you."

Santana looked around and realized that everyone was staring at them. She shook her head furiously headed towards the door. Rachel turned to Sebastian and said, "I'm sorry. I think that was more about her than you. It's been a really long day. I'm sure David would appreciate a phone call from you. If you call the hospital and ask for his room, they can transfer you. We can't look to the past. All we can do is face the future, Sebastian."

With that, she raced outside (as fast as possible with two hot drinks in her hands) and found Santana sitting in the passenger seat of her car. Rachel drove them in silence to the park near her house and parked the car once more. She walked around, opened the door, and pulled Santana out of the car by her hands. She took her over to the swings and they sat down.

"'You don't forget bullying,' huh?" Rachel repeated it back to Santana in English and took her hand, which was shaking.

"I guess this day hit me a lot harder than I thought."

"Tana, _querida_, I thought we were past this."

"We are!"

"So why do I feel like David trying to kill himself has brought it all back up again?"

Santana stood up. She couldn't sit anymore. She was too jittery.

"Dave was bullied for one day, Rach. One _day_! I'm not trying to say he was weak and it was for different reasons, but you were bullied for _years_! Did you…ever…"

Rachel was rocking back and forth on the swing and she glanced up at Santana.

"Yes."

Santana froze. Everything in her world stopped. She felt like she was never going to be able to move again.

"I was 14. It was the summer right before sophomore year, and I had been picked on and bullied for an entire year. I didn't have any friends. I felt like I would never have anything but success in my career. I was even at a point where I thought I might not even get that. There was no strong theater or Glee club at McKinley yet, you remember. One day, my dads were both out at work and I went upstairs to find something to help make all the pain go away. I couldn't find any razors that would work. My dads didn't have any besides electric, and I'm afraid of blood so I grabbed all the pills I could. I took them all, but by some miracle they just made me sick and I spent the whole day throwing up. My daddy found me over the toilet, took me to the hospital, and we all spent much of the summer in a therapist's office."

Santana didn't know what to say. _My girlfriend tried to kill herself. My girlfriend tried to kill herself because I bullied her. I almost killed my girlfriend._

"Santana. Stop it. Right now. I mean it."

"What?"

"Blaming yourself."

"Rachel, I was one of the people who tormented you every day until you wanted to take those pills. How is that not my fault?"

"No, 14-year-old Santana did that. 14-year-old Santana was just as scared of her own identity. 14-year-old Santana probably had moments alone in her bedroom wondering what she should do about the fact that she loved her best friend who was a girl instead of a nice boy like she should. Right? A 14-year-old who thought she was going to hell and almost destroyed every friendship she had because of the fear she had of being herself? You were just as tormented as I was, Santana. Does it make bullying right? No. But we found the good things inside one another, and we found friendship and love. We worked to end practically all bullying at McKinley High and that's a really great thing, Santana. That's what we should focus on. That's something to be proud of."

"I know, I know it is, but—"

Rachel stood up and placed her finger over Santana's lips, "No buts. The past is the past. I'm not saying it wasn't a really dark time in my life, Santana. However, with my therapist's help, I was able to get out of the hole. Then it was sophomore year. I had New Directions, and Quinn got pregnant and joined, and then you and Brittany became a part of Glee as well. You all began to change – despite your best efforts to thwart the team – and the bullying pretty much stopped, minus those goddamned hockey player ass-hats, but that's another story altogether."

"Who really thinks they look good in a mullet anyway? Even in the '80s it was not a cool look. Idiots."

Rachel shook her head at Santana's attempt at levity. "We have to move on from our pasts, love. They've shaped who we are, but they aren't all that we are. We've learned from them and now we can use them to help others like David and Sebastian."

Santana rolled her eyes, but kissed the finger against her lips, "Why do we have to help Sebastian?"

"Because I think he and David would make a cute couple."

"Okay, now I _know_ you're crazy."

They headed back to the car, but as they walked Santana grabbed Rachel and pulled her whole body into hers so that they were almost one person.

"I know I've said it before, but I am so sorry for the slushies and the bullying, baby. To think that I could've lost you before I even knew you—" she took a deep breath.

"I'm glad I got to know you, Rachel Berry, and I love you more than I ever thought was possible. Thank you for loving me back."

Rachel could only nod and pull Santana into a deep kiss, one that they didn't come up for air from for quite some time.

* * *

Regionals snuck up on Santana and Rachel, and before they knew it they were backstage waiting to perform. Thankfully as Rachel would put it, they were both "exceptionally well-rehearsed and amazing performers," and it also helped that they practiced every day with Blaine and Kurt in Dave's hospital room. They thought they might be told to quiet down after the first practice. But apparently the other patients found the musical numbers soothing and uplifting, and they would often come by to make requests.

Sebastian came by to visit often, and most times the four of them would go to the cafeteria and give them time alone since Santana and Kurt were still not his biggest fans. However, Rachel was still trying to play matchmaker, and Blaine was happy to help as long as it meant Sebastian would stop flirting with him. A slightly selfish added benefit was that Dave might stop having a crush on Kurt. Santana and Kurt were staying out of the way on that matter since Team Raine was a force to be reckoned with.

The Warblers performed first. Their versions of _Stand_ and _Glad You Came_ in honor of Dave and others like him were really beautiful. What got Rachel squealing to the point where Santana had to cover her mouth so she couldn't be heard over their song was that he definitely winked at Dave, who was in the audience for the performance, and Dave definitely blushed. Santana chuckled a little herself at the obvious flirting going on between the two. It might take some time, especially emotionally on Dave's part, but those boys were _totes_ into each other.

There was a nicely performed choral piece by that other group Santana didn't care about, but it was kinda boring and at this point she was too nervous to care. Then it was time.

As if there had ever been any question: New Directions won Regionals, of course, with their epic three-song setlist. However, their entire performance was the most amazing part. _Fly/I Believe I Can Fly_ went off without a hitch, and Santana killed the rap parts. She was also really stellar in their version of _Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)_, as were all the women, but Jesus if Rachel didn't blow it away during their performance of _Here's to Us_. They couldn't sing all the original lyrics, since profanity was stupidly not allowed, but in her own head (and in the head of every teen who'd experienced the last few days) she was hearing the original lyrics:

Here's to us

Here's to love

All the times

That we messed up

Here's to you

Fill the glass

'Cause the last few nights

Have kicked my ass

If they give you hell

Tell 'em to go fuck themselves

Here's to us

Here's to us

Here's to love

Here's to us (Wish everybody well)

Here's to us

Here's to love

Here's to us

Rachel sang her heart out, and every teen silently did the same right along with her. She sang in happiness, and she sang in sadness. She sang for every kid who'd ever been bullied and every bully who'd never known better. She sang for the boy who thought that bullying was the only way and that suicide was the only way out. She sang for David Karofsky: the boy with the second chance.

Additional note: There it is! It took me long enough, I know! I actually really enjoyed writing it – I just had to find the time. There were some really intense scenes, so I hope you liked this chapter. I put a lot of thought into each scene for it, so let me know what you thought. I am going to try to get out one more chapter before my wedding and honeymoon, so cross your fingers and review!


	13. The Boy Who Was My First Love?

Disclaimer: _Glee _is not owned in any part by me. I just have fun with it.

Author's Note: Okay, so it has definitely been way over a month since I last posted a chapter. I would apologize, but honestly I got married! I'm too excited to really be too sorry that I was too busy to update this next chapter. However, I was planning on updating in the last two-three weeks. I got sick, and I couldn't really get the energy to type, and then I had a family member in the hospital. I _am_ sorry for that (for myself and for the delay in getting this out even further). Anyway, this chapter should be a bit of fun, especially since coming back from my honeymoon and because it is longer. Please let me know what you all think!

Chapter 13: "The Boy Who Was My First Love?"

The Regionals win was amazing, but everyone agreed that this didn't mean that they could slack off like they had last year. They practiced harder and harder for hours on end, which sometimes meant that the other students looked at them even more oddly than the rest of the time. Songs that used to be practiced in their heads while walking down the halls were now performed out loud, and the slushies were definitely getting more frequent (though damn if it wasn't really great practice on Santana's reflexes).

Normally, all of this practice would drive Santana up the wall. However, Rachel had come up with a new reward system that _definitely_ made practicing worth it in Santana's mind.

"Mmm, _Dios, mio, _Rachel! Aren't we supposed to practice _before_ the reward?"

"Who says?" Rachel mumbled as she nibbled up Santana's neck and pushed Santana harder against her bedroom door. Rachel's hands had already drifted under Santana's Cheerios top and her blunt nails were lightly scraping over her stomach, just the way the taller brunette loved.

"Fuck. Umm, pretty sure you did a few days ago."

"Well, I was obviously deranged. Besides, we had Glee practice earlier, and then I had to watch you do those goddamn splits…"

Santana chuckled, then spun Rachel around and scooped her up under her knees and tossed her onto her bed, which caused Rachel to shriek. Then she pounced on her and kissed her deeply. Rachel moaned in the back of her throat.

"Please, _hermosa_, have you seen how flexible you are?" Santana laughed harder when Rachel wrapped her thighs tightly around her waist and pulled the Latina forcefully down into her. This time they both moaned.

Santana had Rachel's shirt off and inched her hand down her girlfriend's stomach when the four most terrifying words they could have thought of at that moment were spoken into the room:

"Stop, or we shoot."

Both girls froze and stared at the door to Rachel's bedroom. Thankfully, neither Hiram nor Leroy Berry was actually holding a gun, but still, Rachel's fathers were standing in the doorway.

"Dad! Daddy!" Santana grabbed Rachel's shirt for her off the floor and sat in front of her so she had time to cover up.

"Misters Berry, I can explain…"

Leroy spoke up, "Santana, we love you. We think Rachel could not have found someone more perfect to be with. We know that you two love each other very much. However, that does not mean that rules go out the window. We want you two to come downstairs, and we'll go over what those rules are and that they need to be followed. Is that understood?"

* * *

Puck could not stop laughing. Finally, Santana had to smack him. When that didn't work, Rachel brought out the big guns.

"Noah, if you don't stop laughing this instant I'll tell your mother that you really aren't busy with Glee practice on Saturdays, and then you really will have to go to _Shabbat_ services every weekend."

That shut him up instantly.

Santana just smirked and said, "Wow, babe, I'm glad you're on my side."

Quinn shook her head and leaned forward and asked, "So what happened after that?"

Santana shivered in not entirely mock horror, "We had to sit on the couch in front of both of them and get a two-hour lecture on safe sex and the rules of the house: 'No being in Rachel's room with the door closed, no locking Rachel's door, no sleepovers, no sex…blah blah blah.'"

Rachel laughed at Santana's forlorn look and rubbed her girlfriend's back. "My fathers did say that they knew that sex would almost definitely be occurring no matter what rules they put into effect. They just want to make sure we are careful wherever we do choose to have it, and that we don't make a mockery of their rules."

Everyone looked to Santana for translation. "If we have sex, just don't let them know about it."

"Sweet, man! So who wants to come to a party at my house this weekend?" Puck asked.

Everyone started agreeing at once, and Rachel laughed and rested her head on Santana's shoulder. That was when she noticed a familiar-looking figure standing across the courtyard.

"Is that David?"

Kurt and Blaine both turned when they heard Rachel's question, and Santana looked up as well. This caused everyone to turn and look as well. Sure enough, there was David Karofsky.

Rachel stood up and the other three of their group followed her. Dave definitely looked really uncomfortable. But when he saw Rachel wave enthusiastically, he waved back hesitantly.

"David! What are you doing here?"

"My doctors and dad agreed that it wasn't safe for me to be at my other school anymore. We thought it would be the best idea for me to come back to McKinley. Kurt, Blaine, I hope that that's okay-"

Both boys quickly nodded and Kurt took Dave's hand, "Dave, I thought we went over this in the hospital. We're okay, really. Now come on, let's go sit down."

Santana shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah, Dave. Come join our island. We're kind of like misfit toys or some shit, but we're pretty awesome."

The five of them walked back to the tables, and Dave sat down with their group. When the awkward pause seemed like it was going to just keep going, Brittany spoke up. "Puck, how come you never invite Lord Tubbington to your parties? You know, he's an excellent dancer. I taught him everything I know. I'm sure Dave would be very impressed by his moves when he comes to the party this weekend."

Just like that, the tension was broken. Everyone burst out laughing, the pain of the past was forgotten for now, and Brittany had invited Dave into their larger group with one simple statement.

* * *

The week went by pretty quickly, and Friday night was something everyone was looking forward to.

Santana and Rachel decided to get ready at Santana's house since her parents were away for the weekend. _That _had been a fun conversation with both of their parents – especially so soon after "The Talk" with Rachel's dads.

"_Mami, _the party is at Puck's place. There's no point to driving Rachel back to her house when we can just walk down the block back to our house!"

Her dad laughed from his position on the couch across the room, "You mean you'll both be so drunk that it would be safer for you to simply walk down the street? _S__i?_"

Santana turned away from her mother glaring at her in the kitchen entryway and tried to gauge the best way to answer that question.

Before she could come up with an answer, her mother threw a dishtowel at the back of Santana's head. "Oh, calm down, _mija_. We know what happens at these parties. We'll talk to Rachel's parents, but I want a clear understanding here: there will be no breaking of the rules you agreed to the other day. Our house rules stand as well, Santana. You go to a party together, you leave together, and you stay safe. Do not drink irresponsibly."

Santana nodded, and her father added, "Remember to watch for alcohol poisoning in yourself and your friends as well, Santana. Parties are fun, but they can be dangerous. Call 911 if you need to, okay?"

"I know, _Papi_. Thanks for trusting me, both of you."

"Yeah, yeah. I suppose we have to, otherwise how would a nice girl like Rachel have chosen you, eh?"

Santana lunged at her father. He laughed and tried to dodge her as her mother warned them not to break anything.

Santana shook the memory out of her head as the doorbell rang.

"Tana, can you get that, baby?"

"I gots it!"

Santana opened the door to Kurt and Blaine with a rather awkward-looking Dave standing behind them.

"Why if it isn't the bitchier half of Pezberry!"

"If it isn't the gayer half of Klaine!"

Blaine just shook his head at Santana and Kurt's usual antics. When he saw Dave's confused look, he leaned over and said, "It's okay. You'd think with the way they rag on each other that they're huge enemies, but you quickly figure out that the best way to show Santana love is to give back as much as she does."

Santana chose this moment to shout out, "Warbles! My man! What, you went sans bowtie tonight? How will the universe stay together?"

"I don't know, Santana, but 'sans', really? I think someone's been spending _way_ too much time around Rachel Berry. Careful, someone might think you come from the nice part of town."

"Yeah, using words like 'sans,' or, you know, living in a huge-ass house like this. One of those _might_ imply a little less 'Lima Heights Adjacent' than you would like."

All three of them turned to Dave who had added that last comment to their repartee. When he shrugged and muttered, "I'm just sayin'," they all burst out laughing, and Santana slapped Dave on the back.

"Dave, I think you're gonna fit right in. Come on, let's head inside and see if 'My Fair Lady' is ready yet."

"I'll have you know, Santana, that I am so ready that I even have my coat on. However, I do appreciate the musical reference – though I know you were aware I was standing here."

Santana smirked and swept Rachel under her arm and kissed her on the lips "borrowing" some of her cherry ChapStick. The shorter girl pulled back and groaned, "Tana! If you want some ChapStick, just ask me for some."

"But it's so much more fun to get it this way, babe."

"All right, you two, break it up. Otherwise, Kurt and I will feel like we have to compete and then Dave will just feel awkward. Plus, you know Brittany will never forgive any of us if we miss the party."

"I thought this was Puck's party?" Dave asked.

Santana laughed, "Oh, it is, but Brittany is always in charge of making sure everyone is there. Don't you remember when you used to go to his parties before? How Britt always seemed to be in every room all the time? That was her checking to make sure everyone was there. If she didn't see someone, then she'd call them incessantly until they got their ass there."

Rachel said, "Speaking of, we are now running late – and yes, Santana, I know part of it is my fault because I couldn't find the perfect outfit to wear – but now we should all start walking down the street. Do we all remember the rule for tonight?"

"Come together, leave together," they all intoned.

Santana pointed down the hall, "Kurt, Blaine, put your bags down the hall in the guest bedroom. Rule is: no sex in Rachel's bedroom, so in my mind that means have at it."

"_Santana!_"

"What? Rachel, baby. Our parents knew we would follow their rules as much as we need to in order to be safe, but they're not stupid. Why do you think they agreed to let us stay here together at all, in a group? I'm pretty damn sure they're hoping that with our friends here we'll all be less inclined to fuck like rabbits."

"Well, I know _I_ won't be having sex tonight…"

"That's what you think, Davey-boy. We are totally on a mission to get you some."

"Santana! Dave, she's kidding. Stop looking like you're going to pass out. Tana, stop being a jerk. Kurt, Blaine, please go put your stuff away. Dave, I assume you're okay with the pull-out here in the living room?" With only a few more shoves and jokes back and forth, they all made it out of Santana's house and down to Puck's in the chill April air.

At Puck's, the party was already raging. All the Glee kids were invited, as were any of the football players who'd agreed to not be douche bags, and some friends of friends. Of course, most of them had already begun drinking before the group arrived.

"Jewbro! Lezbro! The whole gang's here!" Puck shouted when he answered the door.

"Puck, rockin' party. Anyone still sober?" Santana asked.

"Hmmm. Nope, don't think so."

Rachel just shook her head, "As lovely as that thought is, Noah, would you happen to have a place we could put our coats?"

"Sure, you can put them right in the—" Puck seemed to choke, and Santana smacked him on the back to make sure he was okay. However, when Kurt, Blaine, and Dave also seemed to be staring, Santana turned around to ask Rachel what the problem was. Then she figured it out _right_ quick.

When they'd left the house, Rachel had been so ready to go that she had even had her coat on. Santana was too busy getting pushed out of the house and yelled at by her girlfriend that she forgot that she'd never actually _seen_ what Rachel chose to wear. While Santana was wearing a short black dress with short boots, that was expected, and Rachel had dressed up for Santana before, but this? Rachel was wearing a really tight pair of nice jeans (which were somehow making her legs look even longer) and a pair of strappy heels, as well as a black corset-type cinched top that was doing _wonders_ for her cleavage.

"What? What's everyone staring at? Tana? Did I make a fashion mistake again? Damn it, okay, I should just turn around right now and leave because—"

"NO!"

Rachel froze when all five of them shouted at her. Santana cleared her throat, "Rach, baby, you look drop dead gorgeous in that outfit. Don't even think of leaving."

"Yeah, Rachel, you look fucking _fine_!"

"Puck, remove your eyes from my girlfriend's ass, or I'll remove your eyes from your head."

"Come on, Tana. Let's grab our group, grab a drink, and dance!" Rachel took Santana's hand and pulled her into the kitchen and away from her thoughts of trying to kill Puck…or now.

They found Brittany and the rest of the Glee club out of the dance floor and – after the initial hooting and hollering at Rachel's outfit (for which she blushed and Santana laughed) – they all danced for the next hour or so.

"You having fun, baby?" Santana asked as she walked up behind Rachel and handed her some water to drink during a dance break.

"Yeah, this is my first real dance party besides the 'epic fail' that was the one in my basement last year." Rachel seemed to be entranced by the dancing that Brittany and Mike were doing on the dance floor currently, even though she was still talking to Santana.

Santana laughed. "The way you're staring at her right now, babe, you'd think you were the one with a thing for Brittany. Or is it Mike I should be worried about?"

"What? No! No, I just wish I could dance like that. They're just so effortless and…sexual."

"We can dance like that. It's not like we're not out or at a party where people know us."

Rachel looked back at Santana in shock. "Santana, I could never! I dance well, but that kind of passion…it would take years of dance training."

Santana laughed again. "Well, we'll never be as amazing as the two of them, no. But we do have the passion down, and baby, that makes up for a lot. Come on. Let me at least show you what it's like to be led on the dance floor by another woman, hmm?"

With that, Santana pulled Rachel onto the dance floor just as _The Way You Make Me Feel_ by Michael Jackson came on (this was, after all, a part Glee club party).

To say that the two of them made it look as effortless as Brittany and Mike did would be a lie. There were a couple of times where you could tell Rachel was nervous, but Santana was a strong lead, and they quickly found their groove. They also quickly drew a crowd because the sexual energy coming off of them could have powered all of Ohio. The way Santana fit her thigh in between Rachel's when they were facing one another, the heat coming off of them in waves when Rachel ground her ass into Santana's pelvis when she danced in front of her – no one watching was in any way unaffected, least of all the two girls who danced together and only had eyes for one another.

When the music ended and moved into another song, there was loud applause. As their breath mingled, both Rachel and Santana looked up and around, noticed the crowd, and burst out laughing.

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks very much. Show's over everyone. We'll try to sell tickets next time," Santana shouted above the applause.

As Puck walked by, Rachel nodded to Santana subtly and the Latina snagged his arm. "Hey, Puckster, hold a sec. I need your help with something."

"Wassup?"

"I need your help finding your bedroom."

"My bedroom? It's upstairs, you know that. You've been up there before for a number of reasons, and really? Your house is right down the street. Why do you need to use my bedroom to have sex with Rachel?" Puck complained – albeit somewhat drunkenly.

Rachel spoke up, wrapped her arm around Santana's waist, and used the other hand to rest against Puck's chest, "Well, Noah, we _really_ think _you_ might like showing us your room. _Personally_."

It took a minute, but he finally seemed to get it when he proceeded to grab Santana and Rachel's hands and take the stairs two at a time. Any faster and both girls probably would have tripped at least a couple of times on the way. They were definitely surprised that Puck didn't trip at all, considering the alcohol he'd had so far.

"So, ladies, how're we going to do this?"

Rachel took the lead. "Well, Noah, I want you to sit down in that chair by the door and enjoy yourself for a few minutes, okay?"

Puck nodded as Rachel walked him backwards with a hand on his chest until he sort of fell into the chair. He looked like he was on cloud nine.

Rachel turned around and sauntered back to Santana and walked _her_ back with her hand on her chest until she fell onto Puck's bed.

"And what'd you want me to do, _hermosa?_" Santana whispered as Rachel climbed onto her lap.

"You, _querida?_ I want you to kiss me and don't stop until I tell you to. _Comprende?_"

Santana chuckled and swept Rachel's hair back over her shoulder, then pulled her as close as they could possibly get and followed her "orders" to the letter.

Puck could not believe his luck. Here were the two hottest girls in school (who were now both off limits), and he was gonna get to bang them both! Awesome!

After a while, Rachel pulled back and realized that somehow Santana had managed to get her corset top undone while they were making out.

She gave Santana a "look." The other girl just gave her a sheepish look back that said, "What? I couldn't help it!"

Rachel climbed off Santana, her shirt still undone, revealing her black lacy bra underneath. Puck was practically drooling at this point.

"Noah? I'm going to need you to stand up for me, sweetie."

He did, and Rachel slowly took his shirt off making sure to run her breasts along his naked chest. She then unbuckled his pants and let them drop to the floor. When he was down to his boxers, she pulled him forward and pulled him into a kiss.

Rachel pulled back and whispered, "Noah?"

Puck was rock hard, and her whispering was killing him. All he could get out was a choked, "Hmmm?"

"The next time you forget to let me know that you _didn't_ sleep with my girlfriend in a night of drunken depression on her part, remember this moment."

With that, Rachel shoved Puck out his bedroom door (where she had maneuvered him while undressing and kissing him) with a raging boner and in nothing but his boxers.

"Wha—RACHEL! What the _hell _are you doing! Open the fucking door right now!"

"I don't think so, Noah! You fucked with the wrong girl."

"Santana! Santana, you can't let her do this to me. I was there for you. I didn't tell her because she wasn't talking to anyone. Rachel, I tried! I tried to tell you."

"Oh, calm down, Puck. You'll just draw a crowd. We know it's not your fault. Rach had to trust me, and I had to tell her I love her and all that other crap. So it's really not all your fault."

Rachel added, "However, you still didn't help the situation with your damn alcohol, and tonight is no exception. So I want a promise, Noah Puckerman."

They were definitely drawing attention now as people started to make their way towards the stairs and the shouting.

"What?" Puck shouted through the door.

"Joke flirting is fine, but get this though your head: there will be no sex for you with Santana or me, is that understood? Promise me it won't even cross your mind. And before you say it, no, you can't even keep it for your 'spank bank.'"

Puck nodded furiously and said out loud, "Fine, yes, I agree. Now let me in for my goddamn pants!"

Puck tumbled in just in time as a couple of brave partiers made it to the top of the stairs. Santana and Rachel couldn't stop laughing as Puck pulled his pants on and grumbled the whole time.

"You've taught her some evil things, Lopez."

Santana scoffed, "Oh, no, that was all her idea, Puck. My girl is devious all on her own. Isn't she fabulous?"

Rachel laughed, "Although originally the plan did not involve my shirt actually being undone…"

Santana shrugged, "What can I say? My hands, they have a mind of their own."

Just as Puck was reaching for his shirt on the floor and Rachel was just about to start buttoning up her shirt (since Santana had jokingly been trying to get her to leave it undone for a little longer), they heard shouting and the door to Puck's bedroom was shoved open.

"What the fuck's this shit?!" Finn slurred, as he swayed in the doorway.

"Finn? Dude, what the hell are you doing here?" Puck reached for him. When Finn jerked him off his arm, he realized _very _quickly that Finn was not sober at all.

"Man, you're really drunk. Let's go downstairs and you can sleep it off, okay?"

"No! I wanna know what the fuck you were doing in here with your fucking shirt off and why Rachel had her bra showing! What the hell are you doing? Are you sleeping with my girlfriend again?" Finn was swaying back and forth and gesturing wildly.

Santana led Rachel towards the door after making sure her shirt was done up fully, and they both kept an eye on Finn as Puck purposefully led him further into the room so that they could get out. However, once they made their way downstairs, Finn realized what had happened.

"Rachel! Rachel! I wanna talk to you!"

"Go away, Finn. We've already talked about this, and I'm not going to speak to you when you're not sober."

"Rachel, first you say you're leaving me for that slut. Now you're fucking around with _Puck_?"

With a few gasps and some laughter around them, Santana spoke up.

"Oh, please, let's start that rumor, Finn. God."

"You're speaking for her now, cu—?"

"Finn, don't even _think_ of calling her that name, or you will see how much of a bitch I can really be. No, she doesn't speak for me. Not that it's any of your business, but we were playing a prank on Noah, which is why were up in his room. So, no, I am not fucking Noah. Now, can you please get out of our way?"

Rachel stepped around Finn and two things happened at once: Finn went to grab her and the sound of a punch resounded across the room.

Finn flinched, but everyone turned to see that a guy with football player physique who no one appeared to recognize was lying on the floor, and Sebastian was standing over him with Dave standing behind Sebastian in shock.

Santana walked over quickly along with Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine.

"What the hell? What happened? Other Warbler, what are you doing here?" Santana asked.

Rachel spoke up, "I invited him."

Blaine and Kurt both looked to her, "Why?"

"He expressed an interest in how David was doing. I suggested he stop by the party to ask him himself."

"Who's the guy on the ground?" Santana asked.

Dave finally added his two cents. "It's the asshole who outed me at my other school. He showed up here with some random friend of a friend, saw me and Sebastian chatting, and he started to call me a name I would rather not repeat out loud."

"At which point I embraced my boxing classes and punched him. I must admit it was really rather satisfying. Though fuck, my hand hurts." Sebastian shook his hand out, and Dave looked like he was tempted to reach out and rub his fingers over Sebastian's bruised knuckles. Rachel, Santana, Kurt, and Blaine all exchanged looks, and the smallest diva could not contain her small smile of triumph.

Puck took this moment to stick his head into the conversation and say, "Hey, so I found this jerk's 'friend.' He doesn't even know how this ass found out about this party. He's gonna put him in a cab. So it's all good. I was also able to put Finn in the kitchen for a minute so you might want to make a break for it now before-"

"Rachel! I have one more thing I forgot to ask!"

"Shit. God damn it, Finn. Go back into the kitchen before you embarrass yourself even more than you have already," Puck shouted at Finn who definitely had a crowd gathered around him now.

Rachel sighed, and Santana rested her hand along her back in support. "What, Finn? What is so important?"

He looked so defeated, standing there all alone in a crowd. But then he stood taller, his face got harder, and he seemed to just get _meaner_.

"Did you feel as cheap as you are when you gave it up and let that dirty lesbian slut take your cherry?"

There was a collective gasp around the room. Santana and Puck looked ready to lunge at Finn. However, Rachel walked slowly towards Finn, lifted her hand to his cheek, and said in her saddest voice, "What happened to the boy who was my first love?" Then she kneed him in the crotch and walked out followed by her group of friends and their newest addition, Sebastian.

Additional Note: I hope you had as much fun reading this as much as I had writing it! I also enjoyed how long it ended up being, so I hope that was a nice surprise. The next chapter will most definitely be out much sooner than this one, probably within a week or two at the most. Please review and let me know what you think, since reviews keep me inspired to keep writing!


	14. Extremely Satisfied

Disclaimer: Nothing about _Glee _is mine. I am not making any sort of profit from this.

Author's note: Yes, I know, this chapter also took a long time to get out. However, as you (hopefully) all noticed, there was an election recently. I got caught up in it and the gay rights issues that were on the ballot in a few states, including my own state of Minnesota. However, I'm back to writing. During that time, I was jotting down notes for ideas for this chapter and future ones, and I'm excited about where this is going. Again, reviews are my lifeblood! So please review, and I'll try to update faster in the future.

Final note: Song lyrics are not in quotes; they are just spaced apart. Santana singing is regular type, Rachel singing is _italicized_, and the two of them singing together is **bold**.

Chapter 14: "_Extremely _Satisfied"

Rachel didn't release Santana's hand until they were back inside her house and the door was closed safely behind them. When she did let go, all five of the others could see that her hands were shaking, and that she looked like she was about to pass out from stress.

"Hey, Rach, why don't we hang out in the living room for a little while, okay?" Santana asked.

Rachel looked up. When everyone else seemed to agree including Sebastian, Rachel nodded, and Santana led her into the other room.

They all made themselves comfortable. Blaine and Kurt sat on the loveseat next to one another, Santana took the large armchair and pulled Rachel down onto her lap – making the smaller girl squeak and everyone else laugh, and Dave and Sebastian took the couch – each of them sitting farther apart from the other than they probably needed to. It was kind of adorable how awkward they were around one another, especially now that Sebastian had come to Dave's defense.

Kurt finally spoke up, "Rachel, are you okay?"

Rachel sighed, "I'm fine, Kurt." At his skeptical look, she reassured him and everyone else – including her girlfriend whose arms had tightened around her.

"Really. Part of me just wishes that the Finn I used to know hadn't completely disappeared."

"I don't know, _hermosa_. I don't want to be mean here…"

Dave scoffed, Sebastian smirked a little, and Blaine smiled.

"But I think at least part of the 'Finn you used to know' was seen through rose-tinted glasses. I mean, I was a complete bitch to Finn. So he's never had a reason to be nice to me. But even when I was watching him interact with others, he's never had the best track record."

"Rachel, you know I hate to agree with Santana on things…"

This time Santana glared at Kurt and Sebastian laughed out loud.

"But she's got a little bit of a point. Don't misunderstand me. Finn has been very good to me especially as a brother. However, he's also thrown around words like 'fag' when he gets angry, and we all know he's prone to kicking chairs. I just think that he's never really had a reason to control his anger."

Santana continued.

"I'm not saying I'm a perfect example of anger control, Rach, but I've been working on it. I've also never gotten angry or hateful with my language with friends or family. That does not seem to be something Finn's ever learned. What I'm trying to say – in embarrassingly long and well-thought out sentences in front of other people – is that you shouldn't take it too personally when Finn gets like this. It's not anything you've done right now. It's that he's been like this for a while. He probably needs to see someone about it soon, or he's not going to be able to function normally in the real world."

At everyone's serious faces including Rachel's, Santana followed that up with, "Or I'ma kick his ass in the next time he yells at you. Then it really won't be a problem. But we'll have tried another method first and that's anger management. See? Growth." She smirked, and everyone burst out laughing.

Rachel looked over to the couch and asked, "So, Sebastian, are you staying the night?"

He looked around at everyone's expectant (and in Dave's case, nervous) faces, "Yes, I guess so. I had a couple of drinks, and I was going to catch a ride with the friend I came with. But once I punched that guy, I think my friend left."

"All right, well, Kurt and Blaine are in the guest room/my brother's old room down the hall, Rachel and I are upstairs in my room, and you or Dave can take my parents' bed upstairs, and the other can take the couch down here. Good, now that that is decided, I'm tired and horny, and I'm taking my woman to bed." With that said, Santana stood up and hoisted Rachel up from her arms and swung her over her shoulder and headed toward the stairs.

"Santana! _Santana! Put me down!_"

Santana refused to be swayed by Rachel's protests, and her voice drifted upstairs as the shorter girl was carted upstairs by her girlfriend. Blaine, Kurt, and Dave were in hysterics, and Sebastian simply felt in shock.

"Do they always act like this?"

"Well, Santana is being actively silly to distract Rachel from her sadness over Finn. But, yes, this is pretty much how they normally act. If you get past the whole gross lesbian sex thing, they're pretty damn cute together," Dave replied.

"Yes, well, I think we're going to follow their lead and head to bed. Are you two okay in finding where you're going to sleep?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah, we should be good. Night, guys. Thanks for inviting me out. It was a pretty good night overall."

"Yes, Dave, it wouldn't be a party without a naked Puck, a yelling Finn, and a fistfight," Kurt said, being snarky.

"Don't forget the dancing, Kurt! There was drinking and dancing!" Dave laughed.

"Right, of course! How could I forget? Good night, you two."

After Kurt and Blaine went into their room, Dave and Sebastian stood around awkwardly for a few minutes.

"Well, you should take the bed upstairs since I was already planning on taking the couch. I was prepared for it," Dave offered.

"But I wasn't even going to be here originally, you should take it. It will be more comfortable for you."

"Sebastian…"

"Please, Dave."

It was the first time they had both really said each other's names while they were alone together. In the silence, they took the moment in. It felt precious and special like they should remember it.

Dave cleared his throat, "Ok…Okay…I'll take the bed upstairs. Thanks."

Sebastian nodded. As Dave turned and fled upstairs, they both felt like the conversation was unfinished, but neither one knew if they had the confidence to fix that right now. Sebastian sighed and laid down on the couch. He tried to fall asleep and _not_ think about Dave.

* * *

Santana tossed Rachel onto the bed and closed the door. She forcefully locked it behind her. However, just as she was about to turn around, she found herself pressed tightly against the door.

"Rachel, what are you doing?"

"In all the teasing tonight and the last couple of days, what makes you think that you're the only one of us who's so horny that they can barely breathe?"

Santana gasped and moaned loudly as she felt Rachel grind into her ass. It made her press her own pelvis hard into the door. Santana tried to reach around, but Rachel pinned her hands against the door as well and continued to grind into her ass as she whispered into the tall girl's ear.

"Do you have any idea what it does to me just having you in my life every day? Seeing you? Hearing your voice? Smelling you? God, your _scent_ is so fucking intoxicating, Tana. Then tonight, dancing with you? Fuck, if I could've taken you on that dance floor, I would've. I was so entranced by you that I almost forgot we were going to fuck with Puck's head. Having you on his bed? If I didn't know he would enjoy it so much, I would've fucked you until you drenched his sheets in your come."

That really made Santana moan, and she tried to thrust backwards. She tried to get Rachel to do something – _anything_ more than what she was doing with her pelvis and ass. Fuck, she was driving her crazy!

"You know what I enjoy most about the outfit you chose to wear tonight, baby?"

At this point, Santana could barely think. All she could get out was, "Hmm?"

"Well, it shows off your legs fabulously. It makes dancing with you really easy, and it makes doing things like _this_ very easy."

With no other warning, Rachel spread Santana's legs, moved her thong aside, and thrust three fingers inside Santana from behind. Santana let out a half moan/scream and arched her back away from the wall as far as she could, but Rachel's body held her there.

"Fuck, Rachel, _muy bueno!_"

"Mmm, I know it's good, baby. I can feel you gripping around my fingers. Now, I want you to brace yourself against the door with your hands and stick your ass out a little. Do you want to know why?"

Santana moaned as she adjusted to Rachel's request and felt her girlfriend's fingers moving inside of her, her thong being slid down her legs, and her short black dress being lifted up over her ass.

"Why?"

Rachel lifted her unoccupied hand and turned Santana's head so that she was looking back into her eyes for a minute.

"Because when Finn asked if I felt cheap when you took my cherry, I wanted to tell him, 'No, I feel fucking amazing when I have sex with you. Tonight, I'm going to go home and fuck my girlfriend's brains out. I'm gonna make her scream so loud that you'll hear it from every corner of Lima, and I'll love every fucking minute of it.' So, Santana, I'm going to fuck you so hard you're going to see stars and come like you've never come before. That's why."

Then Rachel leaned in, kissed Santana deeply, and bit her lower lip until the taller girl moaned. Then she pulled back and warned, "Brace yourself, baby."

Santana nodded. She had just enough time to turn her head back around and rebrace her hands against the door as Rachel wrapped her free arm around her waist and pulled her inside hand almost all of the way out. Then she started to fuck her.

Santana had had sex before. She'd had sex with Brittany and Puck and (ugh) even Finn. She'd made love with Rachel, and they'd had sex together before this. But until now she'd never really been _fucked_. The way Rachel was thrusting into her – harder and harder, rubbing along her g-spot, making her moan and scream almost every time – was making her feel so thoroughly _taken_ that she could barely express the feeling. Hands down, it was the hottest, most passionate feeling Santana had ever experienced, but she'd never have been able to feel this way with anyone else. This kind of loss of control? She could only let something like this happen with Rachel, the love of her life.

"Tana, baby, you with me?"

"God, yes, just…so good. Strong. Feels amazing, baby. _Fuck._"

Rachel chuckled. She was breathing heavily. Every thrust was making the back of her hand hit her clit inside her jeans. It was slowly driving Rachel insane, and the noises Santana was making weren't helping either.

"Do you want to come, baby?"

"Ye…yes…mmmm…"

"Can you feel my fingers, Tana? Can you feel them rubbing across your g-spot? Can you feel me along your back? Can you feel me around you? Inside you? I'm everywhere, _querida_. I'm all over you and throughout you. You've never been more thoroughly filled, have you?"

"N…no."

"All you have to do to come is will it. I'm right here with you, Santana. I'm not going anywhere. I'm with you every step of the way. I won't let you go. You can come, Santana. I'm fucking you against this door in nothing but your little black dress. You're my girl, and I'm fucking you senseless. You come."

"I…I'm almost there…"

"Come, Santana. Fucking come all over my hand. You're so goddamn wet. You're dripping onto the floor with how wet you are and how hard I'm fucking you, how I'm taking you. This is what Puck would love to see and can't. No one but the two of us gets to see this, Santana. Come for me. Fucking come for me. Now."

With that last word out of Rachel's mouth and with the support of Rachel's arm and her fingers moving furiously against the Latina's g-spot, Santana came so hard that she definitely drenched Rachel's hand and the floor. Her entire back arched and her arms came off the door and wrapped backwards and around her girlfriend's neck as her entire body shook with her orgasm. It was so intense that her scream of ecstasy was silent.

At the same time, Rachel's hand had been jarred hard into her own pelvis. The excitement of the night and her own words to Santana – as well as watching her orgasm – shattered Rachel's own control. As Santana was coming down, she realized that Rachel was starting to collapse from the shaking of her own body. Both girls slid to the floor as Santana slid behind Rachel. The taller girl held the shorter one as she came down from her own orgasm, which was surprisingly strong for being caused by nothing more than the back of her own hand and the sensations around her. Neither girl could really complain about that.

When both girls were aware enough, Santana looked into Rachel's eyes and whispered, "Hi."

Rachel smiled, "Hello."

After sitting on the floor for a few more minutes, Rachel took Santana's hand. They stood up, stripped down, and climbed into bed. They drifted off with Rachel safely cocooned in Santana's big spoon.

* * *

Sebastian sat up and lifted his pillow, ready to throw it at the noises he could hear in the dark. He thought the noise it might one of the other couples, but he didn't want to risk it. What if it was an intruder?

"Who's there?" He whisper-shouted.

"Ahh! Jesus, you scared me, Sebastian!"

"Sorry, Dave, I thought you might be a burglar or something."

"No, sadly, I just really can't sleep upstairs. Do you mind I sleep down here on some blankets on the floor?"

"Why can't you sleep upstairs?"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be able to tell in a minute."

"What do you—"

"_Fuck!_"

This was followed by a lot of moans that were definitely getting louder as time went on.

Sebastian blushed to the tips of his ears and cleared his throat, "Ah, ahem. I can see why that might be an issue."

"Trust me, it is much worse upstairs. I can hope they'll be done soon, but it sounds like Rachel is giving Santana _quite_ the workout. I thought that if I wanted to save our friendship I should come down here so I don't hear all the gory details."

"Okay, ick, I didn't need those details!"

"I know! Neither did I, frankly. However, I don't think either of them is thinking very clearly right now. Volume is clearly not something they're really concerned with that the moment."

"All right, well, settle down, and we can try to get some sleep. Hopefully they'll go to sleep soon."

After about ten minutes of trying to _not_ to listen to the sex going on upstairs, Sebastian spoke up, "Dave, I'm really so sorry about my stupid comment at the gay bar the other day. I didn't mean it. I was being an ass to everyone because I was pissed off, and I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Dave sat up and sat on the couch next to Sebastian. "It's really okay, Sebastian. I mean, it wasn't the only reason I tried to commit suicide. We should all think about what we say so that bullying doesn't lead to kids like me thinking there is no other way out. The kids at my school were the real reason. You are learning from your mistakes, and I have the chance to do that too now. That's what's important."

Sebastian smiled and reached over taking Dave's hand in his. They glanced up and looked into one another's eyes. The moment seemed to slow down once more, and they both leaned in towards each other. As their lips brushed, each teen had a similar thought: this is a perfect moment.

That perfect moment lasted for all of ten seconds. Then the kiss was interrupted as another sound joined the ones that could be heard from upstairs.

"Oh, Blaine. _Yes!_"

Both boys pulled back quickly from their first kiss, looked toward the guest room, glanced upstairs where the moans could still be heard, and then burst out laughing.

"Well, I guess it's nice to know our first kiss happened in a safe space," Dave said.

"Definitely, which is why I am going to take this opportunity to ask you out on our first date. David Karofsky, would you like to go out for coffee at the Lima Bean with me next Sunday? I know it's much more public, but I would really love to go with you and—"

Dave cut Sebastian off with another kiss, "That sounds perfect. Thank you. I would love to, Sebastian."

They smiled and decided to try to look through the DVD collection since it didn't look like they would be getting any sleep anytime soon with all the action going on in the house.

* * *

The following week at school, the jokes among their group of friends were endless. Dave could not stop teasing Santana, Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine for their level of noise after the party. While Rachel and the boys blushed profusely, Santana just laughed her ass off.

"Did it help you get any action with Other Warbler? Don't think I didn't see that you two were both sleeping in the living room the next morning, Davey-boy."

Dave blushed and mumbled something.

"What was that? I couldn't quite hear you?"

"Maybe it's because you screamed too loudly this weekend in bed? You should go get your hearing checked, Santana." Dave joked.

Rachel blushed even more furiously and tried to hide her head in her locker. Meanwhile, Santana just shook her head, "I am not ashamed that my girlfriend knows how to get me off. Also, you aren't going to distract me from our convo, Dave. Did you and Sebastian get it on?"

"We kissed. We're also going out to the Lima Bean for our first date this coming weekend. There, satisfied?"

Kurt, Blaine, and Rachel squealed. While the boys started thinking of outfits Dave could wear for the date, Rachel closed her locker and answered his question for Santana, "And yes, she is _extremely_ satisfied. Didn't you hear her the other night? I think you might need to get _your_ hearing checked, David."

Santana burst out laughing as her girlfriend grabbed her hand. They walked down the hall following Kurt and Blaine who were already giving Dave more advice than he might ever want or need on his first date plans.

They headed into Glee practice and Mr. Schue announced that they would be continuing the Whitney Houston theme that they had started on Monday. Brittany had performed _I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)_, and she had blown them all away with her performance. They all called for Mercedes to do her version of _I Will Always Love You_ again. Now it was time for a surprise Santana had been working on.

"All right, guys, who wants to perform the next Whitney song?" Mr. Schue asked.

Santana stood up from her seat next to Rachel and her girlfriend looked really surprised.

"Okay, so I realize that everyone sort of just figures that Rachel comes into Glee and sings and has a great voice and it's just a given. I know I used to think that as well. Hell, my voice is amazing, and I used to think I didn't need to rehearse very much either. But the crazy thing is that when you start dating her, you realize how much time she actually spends rehearsing and going to classes outside of Glee for her voice and for dance and acting. I'm not gonna get more into that, 'cause I don't need to call you all idiots more than I already do or look even more like a marshmallow. Here's my point: Rach and I have been having fun rehearsing for our auditions – her's for NYADA, mine for Julliard – by singing this Whitney Houston song recently, and I decided we're going to perform it for you guys today."

"What? Santana, I'm not prepared to—"

"Who are you kidding, Rachel? Get your hot ass up here and perform this damn duet with me before I look like a complete idiot."

"San, I'm not going to do it. I haven't had time to properly choreograph and—"

I don't know why I like it, ha

I just do

Santana could see Rachel trying to resist the lure of the song and Santana's moving hips, but it was definitely a battle she was losing.

Ooh, ooh. Hee

I've been hearing your heartbeat inside of me

I keep your photograph beside my bed

Livin' in a world of fantasies

I can't get you out of my head

This is the point where Rachel had to jump in physically and vocally to make sure that she didn't miss her cue, which is what Santana was counting on. Her girl was wonderfully predictable when it came to music.

_I've been waiting for the phone to ring all night  
_

_Why you wanna make me feel so good?  
_

_I've got a love of my own, baby  
_

_I shouldn't get so hung up on you_

**I remember the way that we touched**

**I wish I didn't like it so much, Oh  
**

**I get so emotional, baby**

**Every time I think of you  
**

**I get so emotional, baby  
**

**Ain't it shocking what love can do?**

God, they sounded amazing together. Santana really wished that they'd sung together more often before this year – before they dated. Maybe they would have realized how amazing their chemistry was sooner if they had? Whatever, it was all worth it to sing with one another, to do the thing she loved, to dance with the girl that she loved, and to see the joy across Rachel's face as she poured all of herself into her voice.

_Ain't it shocking what love can do?_

**Ain't it shocking what love can do? Hee**

**I gotta watch you walk in the room, baby  
**

**I gotta watch you walk out, mm-hmm  
**

**I like the animal way that you move  
**

**And when you talk, I just watch your mouth**

**Oh, I remember the way that we touched**

**I wish I didn't like it so much**

(No, no, no)

**I get so emotional, baby  
**

**Every time I think of you  
**

**I get so emotional, baby  
**

**Ain't it shocking what love can do?**

I get so emotional….

Oh baby

**Oh, oh yea!**

Once the song was over, the entire Glee club was on their feet cheering. Santana picked Rachel up and swung her around until the world was spinning.

Rachel laughed and pulled Santana in for a kiss that had Mr. Schue telling them to "Break it up!" within a couple of seconds. The kiss also had a number of boys in the room shifting in their seats and trying not to stare too much. The two girls proceeded to stare into one another's eyes as Mr. Schue called an end to Glee rehearsal for the day and the other students started to file out.

"What's gotten into you, Tana? You're not usually this…"

"Openly sentimental and sappy?"

"Yes, I guess."

"Well, I guess I just realized that I was afraid of this town for so long, and now I don't need to be. I've got you and our friends, and we have our families. We have bright futures ahead of us, and we can face anything that comes our way. So what's there to be afraid of anymore? I want to embrace life, not shrink away from it."

Rachel flashed Santana her biggest "show-stopping" smile as they linked hands and walked out of the choir room and down the hall heading towards the parking lot. As Santana unlocked her car door for her girlfriend, Rachel leaned up, wrapped her arms around Santana's neck, and kissed her long and deep until they were both out of breath.

"I love you, Santana Lopez, so much that my heart hurts sometimes."

Santana smiled in the way only reserved for her girl. As she opened the door and Rachel slid into the car, she said, "I love you too, _preciosa_."

Santana walked around the car and got in on the driver's side. However, neither girl noticed the football player from the party the other night – the one Sebastian had knocked out – standing on the far side of the lot, watching their car drive off.

Additional author's note: I know. I'm evil to end on a slightly more ominous note! However, unlike in the show, I wanted at least a _little_ bit of lead-up to my version of the episode _Choke_, which is what my next chapter will be dealing with. It will be quite different from the show, but it will have some connections to the episode like the NYADA auditions.

Also, if you're wondering why I have been going into more detail about Santana and Rachel and Dave and Sebastian as opposed to Kurt and Blaine as a couple, it is mostly because Kurt and Blaine were already a great couple on the show and in my mind. Therefore, I felt for my story that there is more to delve into with the other two couples.

Nevetheless, especially with the NYADA auditions, Prom, and graduation, they'll get some more face time. So if you're worried about that, please don't be! As always, review please and sorry for the extended delay! I am excited/nervous about the next chapter, so I have a feeling it will be coming out much faster than these last two. Here's hoping and wish me luck!


	15. Choke

Disclaimer: _Glee _is not owned by me.

Author's note: I have yet again horribly delayed this chapter. But it is a darker one, so I had to gear myself up for it. Plus, I've been working on trying to do some original writing outside of the Glee-verse as well. So wish me luck on that. I promise to not abandon this story in favor of that, though. I have a complete tale to tell, and I hate when authors leave me hanging.

This one is more personal. I've added more of the internal monologues that I feel have been missing in some ways. Also, this chapter is intentionally not linear. So let's hope it still makes sense. Read on and enjoy. As ever, please review.

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER IS DARK. IT HAS THEMES THAT COULD DEFINITELY BE TRIGGERS. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT I ADDRESS THOSE ISSUES HERE. I would go into more detail, but that would spoil the story itself. Please keep this in mind as you read this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 15: "Choke"

_Choke._

_ They say it sometimes about theater and the stage – that in a performance you just freeze up. You see all those people out there, and you just don't know what to do. I've never had that problem. Crowds of people simply meant that I could show myself off. Maybe there would be someone important out there. Maybe I would get noticed. Maybe I'd finally end up on Broadway like I always dreamed._

_ Choke._

_ I never understood it._

_ I understand it now. For the first time in my life, I'm choking, and I never thought I would hope for this, but I really wish it were because of a performance._

_ I can't breathe, and I think I'm starting to lose consciousness. You fight, and you fight, but I don't think I can fight anymore._

_ I'm sorry, Santana. I tried. I fought. But then?_

_ I choked._

* * *

_Running. I'm running out of breath. God damn it, why are these fucking hallways so long?_

_ Oh, stop distracting yourself, just find her. How could she be late? Why would she be late?_

_She might have choked. She's been nervous all day. _

_She's probably in the bathroom. No, you checked there already. _

_Why would she choke? She's the most confident person you know. She had this performance on lock._

_She couldn't have choked._

_Why are you running then? Why isn't she there? She's never late to anything. I hate being the responsible one. That's her job. I'm the screw-up. I'm the one who doesn't want to commit to things. _

_Why am I so afraid?_

_Because you know her. She's the love of your life, and she wouldn't miss this for anything._

_So where is she?_

_Why can't I breathe?_

_Shit, think! Okay, I'll check her favorite place. Maybe she's there. Maybe she's fine. Maybe she just got caught up in her rehearsal…_

_But I know I'm just lying to myself. God, Rachel, I'm so sorry. I should've tried harder. I should've fought for you more. Fuck, I'm running as fast as I can, but as I turn the corner I know…none of it was enough._

_I choked._

* * *

**8 Hours Before**

"You're joking."

"No, seriously. There I was on my date with Sebastian and Rachel walks right in!"

Santana turned to her girlfriend and raised her eyebrow, "Weren't you supposed to be rehearsing all weekend non-stop for your NYADA audition this weekend? Which is this afternoon, may I remind you, and the reason I could not come over and thoroughly distract you with my beauty. How did you have time to stop by and threaten Sebastian on his first date with Dave?"

Rachel huffed and closed her locker.

"Tana, just because you aren't doing air quotes does not mean that I can't tell you're making fun of my speech patterns and mannerisms. Don't think I don't know it's because you wanted to get your 'sweet lady kisses on' this weekend, and you're really fucking horny because I told you that you couldn't come over. However, for that cut against me, you get to hold my books while we walk to class."

Kurt and Blaine walked up as Santana rolled her eyes and Dave laughed at their antics.

"Who didn't get any kisses this weekend?" Kurt asked.

Rachel replied, "Well, before Santana interrupted us with her rapier wit and got herself without kisses – and without sex if she's not careful – I was going to make Dave tell us how his date went with Sebastian."

Santana unceremoniously dropped Rachel's books into Dave's arms, "Whoa, _espera_.No sex? Come on! It was a joke, Rach. I promise you, the entire weekend without sex was punishment enough. I can't hold out much longer. _You_ can't hold out much longer! I love the way you talk. You know I could listen to your voice for hours, baby."

Santana wrapped her arms around Rachel from behind and started to tickle her. Rachel squealed and tried to wiggle out of her arms, and it was hard to tell who was winning. That is until Dave handed Kurt the books – which made the skinnier teen almost fall over under the weight – and he and Blaine rushed in to help each side get the upper hand.

Dave: "Rachel, try to kick her shins!"

Blaine: "Santana, the backs of her knees are really ticklish!"

Kurt: "You're all fighting like idiots! Go for the hair! Nothing ends a girl or gay tussle like messing up the 'do!"

When it looked like their "fight" might actually start to draw attention from teachers – and they were _definitely_ already drawing a crowd of students – Rachel thought of the perfect ploy.

"Oh, my God, is that Cheerio not wearing any spankies?" Rachel shouted.

Santana immediately whipped her head around (I mean, come on, she may be a one-woman girl now, but that didn't mean she was _blind_) and Rachel finally wriggled free and started to skip down the hall.

"I'll only let the fact that that worked on you slide because I love to win, Santana, but we have two minutes to get to History. If I you're late and you don't have my books, I'll be most displeased. See you there!" With that, she giggled and continued to skip down the hall.

Dave helped Santana up off the floor, and Kurt dropped the books back in Santana's arms. Blaine turned to all three of them and asked the question that was on all of their minds: "Is she actually _skipping_ to class?"

Santana just supported the books more fully and shook her head at the awesome absurdity (definitely spending way too much time with Rachel) of it all.

"Yup, that's my girl. Gets huffy at me for making fun of her, uses my wandering eye to get the upper hand, and then fucking _skips_ off in victory. And somehow, she still managed to get me to carry all of her heavy-ass books for her."

The old Santana would have grumbled. The old Santana would have gotten angry and refused to carry the books just because, dropping them on the floor and gone to get a slushy maybe to throw in someone's face.

This Santana chuckled and motioned down the hall with her head since her hands were full.

"I'm so fucking gone on this girl. Well, we better get to class, boys, before I'm in even more trouble than I already am."

As they walked down the hall, Kurt asked, "When did Rachel get so gleeful at winning? I mean, I know she's always loved being number one, but I don't remember her being quite so…diabolical and sneaky."

Dave and Blaine looked at Kurt and then turned their heads towards Santana.

Kurt shook his head, which they all realized was the natural response around the Pezberry pair.

"Never mind. I think I know where she got that habit from."

Just before walking into History class and not even glancing back at the three of them, Santana whispered, "Damn right and proud of it!"

* * *

_Usually I'd be trying to kill him right now. Usually I'd be hitting him, over and over, screaming at him in Spanish until my throat is raw and I can barely see from the tears in his eyes and the blood on his face._

_ But he doesn't matter, not in this moment._

_I'm speaking to her in Spanish, over and over._

_ My throat is raw from screaming for help._

_ I can barely see from the tears in my own eyes._

_ There's so much blood on her face. So much blood on me. Some is his. I know that. I can see she fought him, my beautiful, brave girl. Some is mine, from when I found him here, with her. But _Dios mio_! So much is hers, and I can't tell where it's all coming from._

_ Then I see it through all the tears and the blood as I hold her. I see her throat._

_ And I choke._

* * *

_She's here. I can hear her. I can feel her hands on me, holding me tight. I know everything will be okay now. I wish I could see her, but I'm afraid to open my eyes._

_ I've never really been truly afraid before. I thought I was afraid before my audition today, but I didn't really know the meaning of the word fear then._

_ I learned the meaning this afternoon. I learned it when he found me in my safe space. I learned it when he grabbed me and pinned me up against the wall. I learned what true fear was when he covered my mouth and told me if I screamed he would cover my mouth until I stopped breathing altogether._

_ I learned about being afraid when he pulled a knife out, and I thought he was going to use it on me. Instead, he held me against the wall and used it to cut my clothes, slowly, so I would know what he was doing. Then he started to say the most horrible things._

_ I'm remembering it so clearly now as I try to shut it all out, as I am locked in my fear of opening my eyes. If I open my eyes, I'm afraid Santana's arms around me will disappear, and I'll still be there with him, and he'll still be hurting me._

_ I feel her. I do. I know she threw him off me. But I can still feel him, still smell him, still hear him..._

_ "You think you're all so special – that you don't need us. It's bad enough that those pansy boys walk around giving men a bad name, but you fucking dykes are the worst. You know what you need? You need a real man to show you what sex should be. I'm gonna fucking rock your world, whore. And then I'm gonna go find your Spic slut and give it to her just as good."_

_ I remember now. I was going to do exactly what he said and try to find a safe opening to fight back like they tell you to in self-defense class. But then he threatened Santana. He threatened my girlfriend. That's when I lost it. I fought back in any way I could. The knife went flying and so did his fists. As a last resort, his hand went around my neck._

_ I choked._

* * *

**4 Hours Earlier**

They were all sitting at lunch, and Rachel once again remembered what she had been trying to find out from Dave earlier.

"David, you managed to use my distraction with Santana earlier to dodge my question. How did your date go with Sebastian?"

All of Glee club was there including the newly official couple Samcedes. Santana couldn't help notice that Christian-boy and Quinn were flirting a little (which was just kinda weird, but whatever). This thought caused Santana to glance over at Brittany, who was currently in a deep conversation with Puck, and they both actually seemed invested in the conversation. Hmmm, she'd definitely have to keep a close eye on that shit. But, damn, they were a really fucking incestuous and couply group, weren't they?

At this question, they had everyone's attention.

Dave looked really uncomfortable, but he knew that they all cared about him. So he nodded and said, "Well, we met for coffee—"

"Ooh, not the best choice. I find that you then have to pee a lot. Did you have to excuse yourself a lot?" This was, of course, from Brittany.

Everyone laughed, and Dave just nodded.

"That's a very good point, Brittany, but no. We were both so nervous that neither of us really drank the drinks we had."

When everyone continued to stare at him expectantly, Dave knew that they wouldn't be satisfied until he told the whole story. "We talked about our childhoods. I talked about football. He talked about singing and the Warblers. We laughed. We held hands a little—"

"Did you kiss?" This was from Puck, naturally. When he got some weird looks, he shrugged, "What, even if it's two dudes, I want to know if my man got to any of the good stuff. I mean, isn't that the point of a date?"

"They had their first kiss the other night, ass-hat. And I doubt that in a public coffee shop in Lima, Ohio, that they were going to attempt Round 2. Am I right?"

Dave nodded.

"Now shut up and let him tell the rest of the story. I'm still waiting to hear when my girlfriend got really nosy and inappropriate and showed up to spoil it all." This was Santana's two cents.

Quinn spoke up then as everyone turned to look at Rachel (it was actually becoming like a tennis match, which is usually how Glee lunches went).

"You interrupted their date? Why?"

Rachel cleared her throat, and everyone tried to see how she could save face on this one, especially Dave, who had been there.

"First of all, I was there to get a restorative drink as a slight break from my NYADA audition rehearsals as Santana and Dave well know. Secondly, Dave _did_ get up to go to the bathroom at one point. That is when I took the opportunity to…kindly let Sebastian know that if he broke Dave's heart, I'd be most upset."

"Rachel, you may have been gone by the time I got back, but Sebastian let me know what you said, and that is not at all how you put it. He thought it was cute, thankfully, that you care enough about me to threaten him."

Mercedes leaned forward.

"You threatened him?!"

When it was clear that Rachel was not going to tell anyone what she said, Dave spoke up again.

"Yes. She said, and I quote, 'While I understand that you have a great affection for David, I have come to love him and cherish him deeply as a friend. If you even think of breaking his heart or hurting him in any way, I will crush you in every way possible. and I definitely do not mean simply in competitions. I will make your life a living hell. Don't think I can't. I date Santana Lopez. Trust me: they would never be able to charge me with a single thing. You keep him happy, I'll be happy. _Comprende?_' Apparently, you also said it with your Show Choir smile on your face the entire time. He said it was more terrifying than anything he's ever seen before."

Everyone at the table had scooted back at least a foot from Rachel by the end of this story except for Santana.

"Oh, please. You've seen Rachel get pissed at Finn before. Jesus, I think it's hot. My girl's got attitude. It's totally sexy."

Mike shivered a little and said, "I guess it makes sense that you would find that attractive, but I'm definitely not getting on your bad side anytime soon, Rachel. No offense."

Rachel nodded and continued to eat her lunch.

"Probably a good idea. Honestly though? Threats like that are only for those who go after the ones I truly love and care about. I would never hurt anyone who didn't try to hurt the ones I love."

Santana kissed the side of her head, "Totally, _hermosa._"

* * *

_I have to hold on to Rachel tighter as she starts to thrash her arms around. She's trying to shout, I think, but her throat…_

_ "Rachel, hermosa. I'm here. It's me. You're okay now. He can't hurt you anymore, _querida_. Stop fighting me, love. Please."_

_ I'm definitely still crying, and I know Rachel is, but she still has her eyes closed and she's thrashing her arms around. I'm afraid she's going to hurts herself more. Fuck, where the hell is that damn ambulance? I can hear Puck and Dave in the background. I think they tied the fucker to a chair or something in the other room, but they're staying to make sure he doesn't come to and to watch over us I think. All I really know is that Rachel is thrashing around, and I don't know what to do to help her._

_ "Rachel, baby, please, you need to stop. You're going to hurt yourself. Please. It's me, Santana. Just open your eyes, baby girl. You'll see me, okay? I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."_

_ Then I hear it. She's trying to say something._

_ "No, Rach, stop, your throat—"_

_ Rachel finally gets a grip around the back of my head. She pulls me down towards her head where she's lying in my arms._

_ I'm still trying to get her to stop talking when I finally understand what she's saying._

_ My heart breaks._

_ In the barest, smallest whisper – a sound I never thought I would hear from my strong, beautiful, vibrant singer of a girlfriend – I hear what she's been trying to say to me, what she's been fighting off for the last few minutes._

_ "I'm afraid…I'm afraid you're a dream…that he's still here…trying to get inside me…trying to get inside you…"_

_ I choke._

* * *

_As I finally tell Santana my fear, as I finally make her understand why I can't open my eyes, I hear her choke on her own tears._

_ I didn't want her to know the fear. I didn't want her to know my terror. I wanted to protect her. That's why I fought him – why I wouldn't let that bastard touch her._

_ But what if I wasn't strong enough? What if I really was dreaming? What if I had passed out, he'd taken what he wanted from me and then gone after her?_

_ What if my Santana was lying somewhere, broken and bleeding like I was right now?_

_ Through my fresh bout of agony, both emotional and physical, I hear her once more. God, I hope she's real._

_ Santana clears her throat._

"_Rachel, baby. I want you to listen to me. He didn't get inside you. Do you hear me? I got here in time. He still had his pants buttoned. You fought him off, baby girl. He never got that far, okay? Do you hear me?"_

_ I can hear her words, but at first they don't make sense. Then I start to truly let them sink in, and I turn my head a little into her side even though it hurts to move. I whisper, since that is the loudest sound I can make._

"_He didn't—he didn't—r—rape me?"_

_ I choke on the words._

_ Santana said firmly, "No, he didn't rape you. He never got the chance."_

_ I ask her the question I fear most – more than I fear for myself at the moment._

"_He said…did he go after you? I tried to stop him. He said—he said he was going to go after you too, and I tried so hard to stop him—"_

_ Santana pulled me closer, not enough to hurt, but I could feel her cry harder, "No, _querida_. He never laid a finger on me. You were my protector. You saved me. You fought him off, and you saved us. You can open your eyes now."_

_ I catch my breath, which hurts._

"_Is it really over? Are you really here?"_

_ "It's really over. I'm really here. I'm not going anywhere."_

_ "Promise?" I whisper. I feel lightheaded again._

_ "I promise."_

_ She's still crying. As I finally open my eyes and look into hers, I want to tell her that I'm okay and that I hate it when she cries._

_ But then I choke on the words, because I feel even more lightheaded. The last thing I hear is Santana calling my name as I drift off into the darkness._

* * *

**THE AUDITION**

Rachel was going to watch Kurt's audition since she really wanted to be there to root for him no matter how much she was afraid it might psych her out. Besides, an actress had to be able to perform despite the competition.

She knew Santana was waiting out there as was all of the Glee club and Carmen Tibideaux, the judge. She was still nervous, but she kept her moment earlier with her girlfriend close to her heart. She could do this.

However, before Kurt started, she still wanted to get one more rehearsal under her belt in her safe space, her haven: the choir room. She knew no one would be in there since school was out for the day. Besides, only the Glee kids hung out there. So she decided to a quick final run-through of her marvelous rendition of Barbra's iconic _Don't Rain on My Parade_. It had successfully helped them win Sectionals the first time around, so she figured it couldn't hurt.

What did hurt, however, was the shoulder that slammed into her back as she was thrown into the room. The door was locked behind her. She looked up from where she was shoved down on the floor, prepared to give an earful to the asshole student who thought it was a good (or healthy) idea to pick on Santana Lopez's girlfriend. That's when she started to realize her mistake.

He wasn't a McKinley student. At first, she didn't even recognize him until she looked closer at the mean, deadly look in his eyes. She realized who he was: the jock from David's other school, the guy who'd been knocked out at the party the other night. Then she realized that she was locked in a room in the far back of the school, she'd left her phone in the auditorium, and no one knew where she was. No one would be looking for her, not even Santana, until they called her name for her audition, which would be at least another 10 or 15 minutes. That was a long time for someone as small as her to fight off someone as large as him all by herself.

So she'd have to try to talk him down. Distract him. Delay him. Find her opening.

She'd be okay. She could do this.

"Excuse me, Mitchell, right? That's your name? You know, it really is quite rude to shove someone. If you wanted to talk to me, all you had to do was ask."

He sneered, "I didn't want to _talk_ to you. I wanted to stop you."

"Stop me?"

He nodded.

"I've been following you two for days now. At first, I thought she was the worst, but it's you. You're the one always touching her and grabbing her hand and pulling her into closets to do dirty, filthy things. Everyone knew she slept around before. But you just make her flaunt your sex everywhere, instead of keeping it behind closed doors where it belongs."

Rachel's voice shook a little since his eyes had become crazed, and he'd backed her into a corner (literally) at this point, but she said, "We don't flaunt it. We just don't think that love is something that should be hidden away. It's not something to be ashamed of."

He leaned in and shouted, "_Love?!_ _It's not love!_ It's disgusting. You're disgusting. I thought if I caught you alone somewhere and explained all of this to you that you'd understand. But you just don't get it, do you? Do I really need to spell it out? We're the only way for you. Once you and the Latina realize that men are the only way to truly find love and happiness, then everything will be okay again."

Rachel was definitely disturbed by what he was saying. The more he spoke, the more she realized how much danger she was really in.

"I don't hate men, Mitchell. In fact, I loved my boyfriend and consider myself bisexual. I simply fell out of love with him and in love with Santana. You can't just explain the world away in black and white. There are shades of gray in everything."

That was not the right thing to say at all, which she knew. But Rachel's fathers raised her to be unashamed of who they were and who she was, and she wasn't going to back down from everything she believed in out of fear.

Mitchell didn't see it that way. She never saw the fist he pulled back and slammed into the side of her head, but she definitely felt the knife when he held her against the wall.

Rachel went in and out of consciousness for the next little bit as he beat her up a little more. But when he held the knife up to cut off her clothes and told her he was going to show her what a real man could do, she came back to full alertness. And when he threatened Santana, she fought back with all she had.

Eventually though, Mitchell got the upper hand. He was bigger and stronger, and he finally managed to get both hands around her throat and started to choke the fight – and the life – out of her.

At that moment, her knight in shining armor came to rescue her. Santana and Puck kicked in the door, and Dave threw the bastard across the room – as far away from Rachel as possible.

Santana finally reached her girlfriend, whom she had spent the last 30 minutes searching all of McKinley for, all the while getting more and more worried. She'd gone through every bathroom stall and every nook and cranny – including that janitor's closest they'd used as their safe haven this afternoon – until she'd finally realized that Rachel, despite all her talent, would still have wanted to rehearse.

Dave and Puck had apparently had the same thought since they were right around the corner to the choir room when she careened through. When it was locked and they heard someone choking, that was when they knew something was horribly wrong.

Holding Rachel now – the small girl broken and bleeding, barely able to speak around her crushed throat…what Santana wouldn't give for that closet right now.

* * *

**2 Hours Earlier**

"A closet? Really? Didn't we come out of one of these a while ago?"

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a funny girl, Santana Lopez?"

"Why I believe you have, Miss Rachel Berry. But I don't believe you've ever been sincere."

"Well, keep using words like sincere and you'll hear me be a lot more agreeable with you, I believe. You know how large vocabularies turn me on."

"Large 'vocabularies,' huh? I don't think it was my large vocabulary that was turning you on the other night, baby girl. I definitely think it was the large—"

Rachel cut her girlfriend off as she kissed her deeply. She'd pulled her into the janitor's closet to distract herself from her NYADA nerves, not get more worked up by thinking about the strap-on that they'd used last week. The kisses weren't a much better alternative, though. The hands that had wandered to her ass weren't helping much either.

Rachel pulled back and rested her head against the taller girl's shoulder. Santana understood that her girlfriend needed a minute and wrapped her arms around the ball of nerves.

Rachel took a deep breath and sighed.

"I just needed a minute that was just ours, just for the two of us. This whole week seemed to whip by. I know that I needed the practice time free of distraction, but I really did miss you, _querida. _Don't tell anyone I said this, but I think the nerves are finally catching up with me."

Santana smiled softly into her hair and said, "That only means you're just a little bit human like the rest of us, Rachel. You're going to do fantastic at the audition today, and I'll be right there watching you."

Rachel peered up at her through her hair.

"Promise?"

Santana smiled and kissed her nose.

"I promise."

* * *

Author's note: I'll let the chapter speak for itself. Please review and thank you for sticking with me.


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